They’re very close in age, both played for their country and faced each other as players at club and national level.

Watford boss Slaven Bilic and Reading manager Paul Ince are no strangers, and both also played for West Ham although Ince had moved on several years before Bilic arrived at Upton Park in 1996.

When I asked the Watford head coach if he could remember coming up against Ince as a player, he had to pause and think – and at first he wasn’t sure they had.

“Ah no, he came back to England to play for Liverpool and I played against him in the big one: Liverpool v Everton, the Merseyside derby. We drew 1-1 at Anfield.

“I think I may have played against him in an England/Croatia game too.”

Bilic was correct on both counts: in fact Ince scored the 68th-minute equaliser as Liverpool came back from conceding a Duncan Ferguson goal ten minutes earlier to earn a 1-1 draw at Anfield in February 1998. Former Watford keeper David James was in goal for the Reds that day.

Bilic and Ince had faced each other earlier than that though, when they were part of their respective national teams as England drew 0-0 with Croatia at Wembley in April 1996, in a friendly.

Among Bilic’s teammates that night were names like Suker, Boksic and Prosinecki, while Ince lined up alongside the likes of Gascoigne, Pearce and Platt.

How did Bilic rate the man who will be in the opposing dug-out tonight?

“Paul Ince was a top, top player,” he said.

“What was it they used to call him - The Governor. There was good reason for that.

“At that time he was a typical leader on the field, a box to box player. He wasn’t just a good player, he was a top player.

“His Reading team are like him. They are compact and organised, but they are also brave and they play on the front foot. They are exactly what he used to be himself.”

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