Tom Cleverley hopes that he has proved his worth to Watford boss Claudio Ranieri after a frustrating period on the touchlines.

Since the Italian's arrival, the midfielder has been limited to performances off the bench, while he played no part at all in matches against Leeds, Everton and Arsenal.

However, with Juraj Kucka suspended and Ozan Tufan not 100 per cent fit, he was handed his chance against his former club Manchester United and earned himself man of the match for his efforts.

After the game, he said he hoped that he had done enough to ensure he gets more game time in the future.

"It's been a frustrating time for me," said Cleverley. "I feel like when I've been in the side the results have been decent, so to be, not frozen out, but to have such a spell on the sideline has been frustrating.

"Today was my chance, my first start under the new manager and all you can expect from me is to try my best in every game and sometimes it's good enough, sometimes it's not.

"I've been on the side lines under him so far and hopefully I've shown him what I can do today."

Cleverley's performance was one of many that impressed fans inside Vicarage Road, as the home side swept aside Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's underperforming and underwhelming side.

While he was pleased to pick up the points, the midfielder said it brought him no joy to see his former club in the state that they currently are.

"It doesn't make it extra sweet for me. It's obviously not nice to see some of your old friends struggling," he said.

"Obviously I've been there, under pressure, low in confidence, but in a selfish way, it's three points for Watford, it's a massive three points for Watford, especially with the other results today and the important thing is consistency in our performances now."