There was no ambiguity. No uncertainty. Nothing was left in doubt.

The media asked the Watford head coach what he wanted before the transfer window closes, and they were given their answer clearly and concisely.

Indeed, Slaven Bilic even counted it out on his fingers and said exactly what he thinks Watford need to sign in the coming couple of weeks.

He held one hand aloft with three fingers extended, and as he pointed to each finger he said: ““Midfielder . . . striker . . . winger.”

The Watford head coach explained at the press conference after the win over Blackpool that he told the club that some time ago, well before the World Cup break and certainly in good time to prepare for the January transfer window.

“Players will be back from injury but things haven’t changed since I spoke about transfers in November before the World Cup,” he said.

“That was what I said then. Midfielder, striker and winger.

“Now we need quantity, but even when the injured players come back we are going to need quality. And that is what we have to bring in.

“It’s not optional. I know it’s January and it can be hard to get players but we have to bring them in.

“And no I don’t count Kone and Martins as being in the three signings I think we need. We need a midfielder, a striker and a winger in addition to those.

“We have done our calculations around spots in the squad and 25 players and all that. We have a lot of under-21s and they don’t count in that 25.

“So we have four spots because there are players who will not be back, like Dan Gosling. Unfortunately he will not be back until late April.”

As well as making it abundantly clear he had outlined to the club what, in his opinion, was required from the January transfer window, Bilic also stressed again that automatic promotion was still within reach for Watford.

“If you ask me, there are definitely enough games and points left,” he said.

“This is the Championship and what we are trying to do doesn’t happen occasionally in the Championship, it happens every season.

“Somebody always makes a push. When I was at West Brom with about nine games to go I think we were eight points clear, and then Brentford started winning games like crazy.

“It wasn’t a one-off. Last season there was Forest and Bournemouth, the gap was unbelievable but then when they played each other with two games to go, if Forest had won they would have gone second.

“This sort of thing happens every season. What we have to remember is that unfortunately the gap is smaller to the teams who are behind us, but we don’t have to think that way.

“For now, we have to continue to suffer and try to collect as many points as we can until players come in and start to come back.

“The players who are out now can’t wait to come back, and when they are back – plus with the addition of those three players I talked about – I wouldn’t be afraid of playing any team.

“I say that with respect and it’s going to be hard. But I wouldn’t be afraid of any team in this division.”