Having a head coach who played in defence – and at the highest level – can only be a good thing if you are a defender yourself, and that is something William Troost-Ekong would concur with.

The Nigeria skipper has been a regular starter since Slaven Bilic arrived, and that has coincided with a different way of playing for those at the back.

However, Troost-Ekong says the clarity of instruction helps the defenders to know exactly what is required of them.

“As a defender, he talks to me a lot and he makes it clear how he wants us to play,” he said.

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“He likes us to carry the ball, try to pass forward more and take on responsibility.

“He likes us to dominate the striker we’re marking, get the ball and then be confident with it. He gives us licence to play and I think we have grown a lot when we are in possession.

“The job of us at the back is to try and get the ball and then serve it to the real ball players in midfield and attack.

“That style of carrying the ball did take time to get used to, but now we’re accustomed to it. You’ll see that when we receive the ball, the midfielders and strikers are trying to create space and give us an angle to move the ball.

“The most frustrating thing if you’re a defender on the ball is not having a next pass available, and you have to start dribbling or taking risks that you don’t want to.

“I think the boys up the pitch are doing well to get into positions to take a pass. When you look up and you’ve got three options, our job is then to pick the best one.”

As well as explaining and organising a new way of playing for the defenders, what else has Bilic brought to his first 10 games as head coach?

“The first thing that comes to mind when I think of him is his experience,” said Troost-Ekong.

“All of us probably knew that before he came in, but now we’ve worked with him we’ve all seen it in action.

“I think he’s probably what we needed at this moment in time. He doesn’t try to do anything over the top or reinvent the game of football. He knows what has worked for him, and he looks at our team and tries to put everyone in their best position.

“He’s made performing well a lot easier, and there’s less confusion and more clarity. We believe in his playing style and we’re seeing the result of that on the pitch.”

After a period of inconsistency, Watford have won four of their last five and could go into the World Cup break on the crest of a wave with a win at Bristol City tomorrow.

“It was always our goal to try and sort our performances out before the World Cup break,” said Troost-Ekong.

“Over the last couple of weeks I think there has been consistency, maybe with the exception of the Coventry game.

“We all know that when we come back after the break, that’s when the real season starts. We just needed to be up there to be ready to compete.”

Despite the good recent run of results, there is still plenty of headroom in terms of performance levels from the Hornets.

“I think the fact we haven’t quite hit the levels we want gives us confidence for when we do, plus it keeps us motivated to know we haven’t reached our full potential. There have been glimpses of it but not enough of it.

“Those glimpses are turning into longer spells though, and then we need the spells to become full 90 minute performances.

“I’m very confident in the group of players we have here, and all of us really like working with the manager.

“The most important thing is to stay in the mix and get results even on the days when performances aren’t as good as we’d like. That’s always a good sign.”

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The two areas that Troost-Ekong thinks he and his teammates need to work on the most are probably the same two supporters would highlight.

“Set-piece defending and the way we start games are the two things that were bad. We’ve too often looked vulnerable in the first ten minutes of games. That would give opponents confidence to push on and get the ball into our box.

“We’ve conceded too many goals from set pieces this season. Corners, free-kicks, situations where the opposition launches the ball at us. The issue there is being aware and everyone being switched on.

“Positioning is important, but it really comes down to who wants the ball more. We’ve discussed that a lot now, and you’ll see that when the ball goes out for a corner or there’s a free kick, all of us are alert and that is the only way you can defend those situations.

“We are quite a physical team but sometimes in the Championship you just come up against teams who have players that are bigger, almost like a rugby team. They try and pick you off, so you have to make it as difficult as you can for them.

“We’ve learned to do that better, now we have to do it more consistently.

“It’s the same at the other end, attacking our own set plays. We scored twice at Cardiff, and the penalty against Reading came from a corner. It adds another dimension and in tight games it can make all the difference.”

Having had to play against the impressive Coventry striker Viktor Gyokeres last weekend, Troost-Ekong then found himself up against the giant former England striker Andy Carroll towards the end of Tuesday’s game with Reading.

“Carroll was a very different challenge, I was pleased he came on later in the game and we knew they would go for long balls for the rest of the game.

“Gyokeres was very good. He was their only outlet but he managed to create a lot from very little service. Up to now, he’s probably the most difficult striker we’ve had to play against. Not because he did so much, but more because when he did something it was with quality.”

Troost-Ekong has made 10 league appearances this season, but before that he spent a long spell out of the side. In fact, he had only made two appearances in 2022 before the current season started.

“I’d been working very hard before the new head coach arrived and it had been a difficult time for me for quite a few months.

“The first game where I felt happy with my performance was against Sunderland, but then I got a small injury and had to come back again. So it was good to get the chance straight away with the new manager.

“He said to me when he came that he wanted me to get fit so I could start playing, and that was a nice sign for me. Now I’m trying to repay him.

“I feel the team is more settled, and I’d include myself in that. When things are more calm it’s easier to perform.

“What’s key now, for all of us, is to remember what we needed to do in order to get to where we are now, and keep doing more of it. We can’t afford to be complacent because really we haven’t achieved anything yet.”