Depending upon how you look at it, the Chris Wilder has just 11 games or virtually a quarter of the season to lift Watford from 10th in the table into the top six, and onto the Championship play-offs.

Is your glass half-empty, or is it half-full.

I sat down with Wilder for his first full-length, exclusive interview at the club's London Colney training headquarters yesterday - more articles will be published here during the day.

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The former Sheffield United and Middlesbrough boss was announced as the Hornets new head coach on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after the club confirmed that Slaven Bilic had lost his job.

Wilder has recent form in taking teams from the Championship to the Premier League, having steered the Blades to second place and promotion in the 2018/19 season.

That was going up automatically, something which is almost certainly out of Watford’s reach given they are 16 points behind second place.

However, the four play-off slots are still very much up for grabs, and Wilder is taking a measured and pragmatic approach to the task that lies ahead.

“I’ve got to isolate what I can affect and have an influence over in this 11-game period. I have to control the controllables,” he said yesterday.

“One thing to remember is that 11 games is very nearly a quarter of a season. People will look at the top two and think it’s done and dusted. I think top spot is, but not second place.

“I’ve studied the Championship right the way through the season, I’ve kept my eye on everything. While I would have loved to go back to the Premier League, being realistic my next job was going to be at Championship level.

“So I’ve studied results, watched performances, seen certain teams, but the biggest thing is what’s in front of me, and not what’s already happened.

“It’s not my job to figure out the whats and whys of things that happened in the past, my job is to motivate and put a structure in place for these players to have a really good go at it.

“I’ve signed to the end of the season, and I’d like our season to be ending by walking up the steps at Wembley to get a trophy.”

Ask Wilder about what might happen beyond the end of the season, and he makes it very clear his focus is purely on the 11, 13 or even 14 games that might lay ahead should the Hornets reach the play-offs and then go on to the final.

“That’s a conversation for you to have with Scott Duxbury,” he replied.

“He’s been great with me. Cristiano Giaretta and Ben Manga have been very good, and have welcomed me.

“There are lots of ways to run a club, but one thing you always need is people who are passionate about the club. What I have found here is a football club full of people who are passionate about it and want to do well.

“I’m not getting drawn into what’s happened in the past or the strategy of the club. The strategy of the owner is his business.

“I’ll do what I’ve got to do and I’m grateful for the chance of coming here. Everybody here wants to do well and get something out of this season.

“I’ve not looked beyond the next 11 games. We’ll see how that goes. We have to be very game by game, and there is a gap we need to close.

“Thing is, we don’t have to close it in the first two weeks of this 11 games. We’ll be judged when the final whistle goes at Vicarage Road against Stoke in May.”

Wilder brings with him three staff: Alan Knill, who will be his assistant head coach; Matt Prestridge, the first team coach; and Mike Allen, head analyst.

“Alan I’ve worked closely with for many years. I had him with me at Sheffield United,” Wilder explained.

“We were apprentices together at Southampton back in the day. We actually had a training centre at Watford Leisure Centre, going back a few years.

“I moved to London when I was 14, and Alan was living in Slough and he was three years older than me. But we came through the system together at Southampton and we’ve known each other ever since.

“We both moved north and kept in contact, and then he went into coaching and so did I. Then I had a stint in non-league and got my hands dirty there, and Alan was at Bury.

“I went to work for him there for six months, and then when I got the job at Northampton he came to work with me.

“We work together, there are no egos. It’s a group effort. As long as we get success and get over the finishing line, that’s the main thing.”

Watford’s new first-team coach, Matt Prestridge, should have no trouble negotiating the ring road.

“He used to live about 500 yards away from Vicarage Road,” laughed Wilder.

“He’s a sport scientist who worked in Tottenham’s Academy, he went to Loughborough University and he’s a very bright boy.

“He’s a sport scientist but very much football themed. There was a period when sports science was sport science but it didn’t really understand football. Matt understands the game.

“As for Mike Allen, he is someone I’ve known for a very long time, and he’s a very smart video analyst.

“We work well together, we’re close and it’s a good group, but we’ll embrace the guys here because there are some very good people at the club.”