Craig Cathcart was pleased to see Watford come out on top of a scrappy affair, as the Hornets opened their Championship campaign with a win over Middlesbrough.

The Northern Ireland international's early goal was the only one in the game, with neither side really dominating the game. Cathcart hopes for improvement as the season goes on.

"We had to win our second balls and it was not easy on the eye at times but we got the job done and got the win," he told Sky after the game.

"It will definitely give us a boost. The three points will give us a big boost but we know it is a long hard season so we need to pick ourselves up quick and move onto the next one." 

Cathcart's goal came courtesy of a training ground move that saw him get on the end of a short corner routine from Domingos Quina and Ken Sema.

The defender was pleased to see it come off as well as it did and was also happy to see striker Joao Pedro put in a strong performance in his first league start for the club.

"We did work on them yesterday in training [set pieces]," he said. "The manager wants us to attack the space and we had a couple of chances and it worked well in the end. 

"[Pedro] done great.  You can tell he is technically gifted. He came back from lockdown and put on six or seven kilograms and you saw tonight the qualities he has and I am sure he will get plenty of goals this season."