The clocks go forward at the end of the month, the days get longer, the weather should start becoming warmer and summer will soon be here.

However, if Watford want to play Premier League football next term then they are going to have to extend their season and postpone any holiday plans they might have had for May.

And that’s the message manager Chris Wilder has been giving to his players in his first few days at the club.

“The players still have a chance to get something out of this season. I’ve said to them that they don’t want to be sat on a beach somewhere at the end of the season, looking at the play-off semi-finals and final and be thinking ‘if only’,” he said.

“They have the ability to affect what’s in front of them. We have a talented group. But they have to show it if they want to be successful.

“This is a group of players that has the talent and raw ingredients to win matches in this division. My job is to motivate them and get them working within a structure that enables them to do that consistently.

“The teams at the top of the table are there because they win games. They might not win all of them, with the exception of Burnley – and I have a lot of respect for the job Vincent Kompany has done there.

“One thing we haven’t shown is the consistency to be up at the top, and that is what we have to find in these final 11 games of the regular season if we want to be in the shake-up.”

Wilder has also stressed to his players that nobody is ruled in or out of contention.

“There is a clean slate for everybody. The players understand that and the first, early messages we’ve been giving I think the players understand,” he said.

“This is a competitive game, football – and we’re in a hugely competitive division. Without desire, ambition and commitment you’re never going to win anything.

“There are always non-negotiables from a work ethic and competing perspective.

“I was at Manchester City last week and I looked at the desire of their players, and their commitment to win a game, and they are players that are serial winners.

“A lot is talked about structure, formations, rotations and stuff like that – but a lot should be talked about feel and emotion, and ambition and drive. The players need to show that.”

There have been good early impressions for the new Watford head coach, but he’s far too experienced and wide to be lulled into a false sense of security.

“In the three days I’ve been here I’ve been really impressed with attitude of the players towards everything. They’ve set a standard that I now won’t allow to drop.

“If it drops and we’re not at 100% in any game then we won’t win the game. It’s pretty simple.

“The attitude so far has been very good, but it can’t be good just for three days.

“There has to be commitment. Players can’t just dip their toe in. In any group there will be players who, physically, will be a little more aggressive than others, but then those others can bring aggression in the way they take the game to the opponent.

“Above all else, you have to show consistency – and that is consistency in everything you do, on and off the pitch.

“In all that you do, you have to meet the standards that are expected of you, and do it consistently.”

Looking ahead to today’s game at QPR, Wilder is taking a large squad of players, some of whom may not quite be ready to play, but he’s keen to show there is competition and also make his own team selection as tricky as possible.

“We’re taking a 23-man squad to QPR, and that’s possibly as healthy as it’s been for quite a while,” he said.

“The likes of Kamara, Ngakia and Ferreira are all travelling. I want it to be as difficult as it can be for me to pick a team.

“I don’t want an easy decision when it comes to picking the team, I want situations where it’s difficult for me.

“Then it’s up to me and the coaching staff to pick the right team, and to manage them in-game to get the right result.”

He will be facing another recently-appointed manager, and one he knows well, in Gareth Ainsworth.

“What Gareth achieved at Wycombe is quite remarkable, given the resources he had available to him,” said Wilder.

“I’ve known him a long time, and he has that knack of getting the maximum out of his players. I like to think that’s what I do too though, and that is what I’ll be aiming to do.

“Our players have to show their quality today because I want us to get off to a winning start.”