Having been promoted to the top-flight twice with Watford as a player - “I’m not sure the first one counts as I was only a schoolboy” - and once with Reading as a coach, Nigel Gibbs has first-hand experience of knowing what makes a successful promotion bid.

That means he’s also acutely aware of how difficult it is.

“It’s always said that the Championship is the hardest league to get out of, and I’d agree 100 per cent. There are no easy games in any league but it’s particularly the case in the Championship,” said Gibbs, who made ten league appearances, and played in the play-off second leg at Birmingham City, as the Hornets achieved promotion to the Premier League for the first time in the 1998/99 season.

“A lot of the teams are very similar in terms of their squads, their strengths, their style of play and it is so difficult to be successful in that league.

“It’s also relentless: you’re playing Saturday/Tuesday most weeks which means you’re constantly preparing for a game and often doing a lot of travelling. You have to make sure you’re totally up for every game too, because there are no short-cuts. If you aren’t up for every single game then you’ll find it very hard to get results.”

Much is made of the fixture schedule in the Championship, the increased number of midweek fixtures and the general toil involved. Yet Gibbs played in an era when there was only one substitute and you could fit the entire squad easily on the back of the match programme.

“That’s true,” he said, “but he pace of the game and the fitness of the players is the key difference between now and when I started playing. The games are also far more intense. When you get a run of fast, intense games twice a week over a series of weeks, that’s when you get tested. Any player will tell you they’d rather play than train, but if you’re playing six or seven games in four weeks then even the fittest of players will need their rest.

“Squad depth is important, no doubt about it, but for me the teams who succeed are the ones who have goals in the squad. Fulham and Bournemouth were the top two last season and they were often just able to outscore teams.

“The other thing that is essential is that every player in the squad is on board with what the head coach and his staff are trying to do. You need every player signed up, hungry and committed to the cause. You can’t have players who rock up to a game in the Championship, look at the league table and think it’ll be easy.”

Watford Observer:

Graham Taylor celebrates Watford's play-off triumph at Wembley in 1999

Having worked at the club during that unforgettable 98/99 season, I regularly heard and read Graham Taylor’s squad described as not being the best technically man for man, but nigh on impossible to match in terms of commitment and desire to win. Gibbs agrees.

“Team spirit and mentality are so vital,” he said. “That Watford squad was a great example. We’d have run through brick walls for the manager and for each other. None of us wanted to let any of the other lads down.

“The promotion to the Premier League I won as a player with Watford, and then as a coach with Reading, the team spirit was truly outstanding. It was such a key part of why those two squads had success. Whether you were playing, on the bench or sitting in the stand, you were still one unit and you were all totally together.

“You were always ready and knew what your role was. You might only play five or six games but those games could be the ones that make all the difference and so you have to ready and hungry whenever you’re needed.

“There’s always talk about depth of squad and that does play a part, but personally I think having good people in the changing room with the right mentality who are bought in to what you’re trying to do is the difference between success and failure.”

Unfortunately, failure was the word to describe last season, and Gibbs very quickly pinpointed the one thing, above all else, that has to change on the pitch for the Hornets to be in the promotion shake-up.

“Home form. You have to be a team no away team wants to go to. Last season’s home record was incredible, in a bad way. I’ve never known that with Watford before. It was so disappointing to see defeat after defeat and that is something that has to change straight away.

“Yes the fans can play a part, but the home record is really down to the players. I went to half a dozen games at Vicarage Road last season and I thought the fans were magnificent, so I don’t think the players can say they didn’t have the support needed to be successful.

“In the Championship, home advantage is even more important because often there won’t be a full away end. And it’s in those games, where Watford are the warm favourites, that the fans can really play their part.”

What should the Vicarage Road faithful be realistically looking for next season?

“A team like Watford coming down from the Premiership has to be considering that anything less than a top-six finish isn’t good enough,” said Gibbs. “There will obviously be comings and goings during the summer, but if they can keep together a core and bring in additions who are hungry and up for the fight then I fully expect that’s where Watford will be.

“If you’re in the top six after Christmas then you can kick on in the New Year and start thinking about the top two. You don’t have to be top six of course: when I was at Reading we were 12th in January but we made a couple of good signings, went on an amazing run and won the league. It’s just a bit easier and less stressful if you’re in and around the top six after Christmas.”