The transfer window has been open for a few weeks, Watford have been less busy than many others in the Championship but the message from head coach Rob Edwards is the club is working to a plan that he is committed to, and he hopes supporters will believe in it.

“I am happy with where we’re at,” he said. “In my opinion, we aren’t a club that needs to bring in ten or 12 players. There will probably be more that go out than come in, and I'm good with that because I want a manageable, competitive squad with as few players as possible not being involved.

“I’m very relaxed and calm about where we are. I need to make it really clear that I felt from the outset that I don’t think we need many players. What I’ve seen in the two weeks we’ve been back has only confirmed that to me.”

However, Edwards and other key figures at the club know exactly what is on their shopping list.

“We are well aware of the targets that we want to go for, and contact has been made,” he explained. “It’s not always straightforward because the players we want are clearly at other clubs, they may not want to consider selling and so it takes time.

“There has to be an element of patience, for all of us. Contact has been made, and we are ready to go. We’re not just sitting doing nothing. There’s no way I want to get to deadline day and then be in a scramble to bring players in.

“We have a plan in place. I sat round the table yesterday with Cristiano, Gino and Scott, and it was a good meeting. We’re all on the same page, and we were able to chat about players and where I see them fitting in.

“There are clearly clubs who have more work to do and are going through a period of high player turnover. That isn’t the case for us. We don’t need to.

“Having said that, I am looking for players where we need them but the way we’re going about it is doing all the homework on the players, what they bring, how they fit into how we want to play, how those players fit alongside the players we have already.

“There is a plan going on here. I hope supporters will believe in what we’re doing and the process we’re going through.”

When others seem to be busy and your own club appears less so, it can lead to fear of missing out, but Edwards stressed that he has no concerns.

“I’m not in a position where I’ve seen a player has joined another club and thought ‘oh we missed out there’. We are very clear on who we want to recruit, why we want them and how they fit in,” he said.

“We have had discussions with other clubs, with players and with agents. I’m comfortable with where we’re at in terms of bringing players in, and I really want to stress that. We’re not looking for too much, I don’t feel we need too much.”

As he said before, Edwards’ key area for strengthening is the striking department.

“The top end of the pitch is where I want us to focus our recruitment,” he said. “We’ve obviously got Bayo who will be joining us and is just the sort of player I was looking for. Attacking options that fit with the style of play I’m looking to play is what we are working on right now.

“I’m less concerned with other areas of the pitch because we have two or more options in every position. We’ve got a well-stocked squad of good players.

“I’m fully involved in transfers, I’m talking regularly with the others dealing with recruitment, and we all agree that we don’t need loads of new faces. That is really good as I’m not having to come here and rip things apart.”