Watford’s 2-1 victory against Crystal Palace saw the Hornets come from behind to steal a hard-fought three points and lift themselves to seventh in the table.

While the game itself was lacking in quality, it was still a chance for head coach Javi Gracia to learn a few more things about both himself and his side.

Here are five positives that we think Watford can reflect on following the clash at Selhurst Park.

1. Watford have it in them to win ugly

It is often said the mark of a good team is the ability to win without playing particularly well and Saturday’s performance proved Watford are capable of doing just that.

The stats show the Hornets managed just two shots on target during the game, but they made both efforts count, while their opponents had six efforts on target, yet only found the net through Craig Cathcart’s unfortunate own goal.

This demonstrates the Hornets are not lacking in composure and that, even when they fail to out-class other teams, they still have it in them to find the three points.

2. Javi Gracia is brave enough to make big calls

The Watford head coach proved himself to be a man who is prepared to take risks, as he made the tough call to remove a substitute.

After Will Hughes was forced out of the match early on through injury, Gracia introduced Ken Sema in his place. However, the Swede struggled to get to grips with the game and made life difficult for the defenders behind him by failing to track back.

Gracia was brave enough to replace the under-performing Sema where other coaches would have stood stoically by their choice.

It was a move that ultimately paid off when Sema’s replacement Tom Cleverley scored a superb winning goal.

3. Watford could have the signing of the season in Ben Foster

This is not something that could be learnt from Saturday’s game alone, but Foster’s performance certainly provided more evidence to suggest it is true.

‘Big Ben’ as he is known by Gracia, played yet another blinder as he helped Watford get more points on the board, most notably denying the likes of Wilfried Zaha in a one-on-one situation and performing some fine acrobatics to keep out Luka Milivojevic’s long range efforts.

 At 35 years of age, the keeper is in the twilight of his career, but is arguably still performing as well as he did at his peak and is proving to be a hugely important addition to the team in a position where Watford failed to find consistency last season.

4. Tom Cleverley is ready to step up to the plate

With Etienne Capoue and Abdoulaye Doucoure performing so well this season, it has been difficult for other midfielders to stake their claim as a regular starter in the team.

Additionally, injuries have hampered several players who could potentially make a third midfield place their own, as Gracia has been forced to rotate according to availability rather than preference.

However, Tom Cleverley’s performance on Saturday showed he is ready to force his way into the starting line-up once again.

He battled well after his introduction, looked creative as well as combative, and crowned his performance off with a peach of a strike, giving the head coach a big decision to make ahead of next week’s game against Burnley.

5. Craig Cathcart is mentally strong

It would have been easy for Cathcart’s head to drop on Saturday, after he unwittingly deflected the ball back into his own net from Doucoure’s clearance.

However, he returned to the pitch after half time and played with focus and purpose, showing his mental fortitude.

He took his goal well and made sure that him being in the wrong place at the wrong time did not condemn the Hornets to a defeat.

He was labelled as “magnificent” after the game by Cleverley and he will be pleased with the way he helped his side overcome the mess of a goal they conceded.