Eight games into the Championship season and head coach Valerien Ismael has already had cause to ‘punish’ two players for breaking rules that they themselves drew up.

Ben Hamer was dropped from the bench for the game at Elland Road on Saturday after turning up late for a team meeting.

A few weeks earlier, midfielder Imran Louza was taken out of the starting XI and put on the bench for a similar infraction.

To make matters worse, both Hamer and Louza are among the senior players group that the Watford head coach named before the season started.

“The rules apply for everyone. We put the rules in place, and everyone has to stick to those rules,” he said.

“The players signed up for the rules and they knew exactly what is happening, so it’s not a surprise.

“If someone makes a mistake, then mistakes can happen – but I need to take action, especially on matchdays.

“It is always a case of reinforcement. I have been here with my staff for four months, and you need sometimes to reinforce the message. And that is the case until those rules and that discipline is in the blood.

“I have to say that they have done it well so far on the whole. Throughout the week we have almost no issues.

“This one has happened, it’s happened again. But it will remind the players to raise their focus, raise their standards, every time.

“If you want to become a top team then this is a process you have to go through with some setbacks.

“If these things happen then we have the rules, and I will be forced to take action.”

Last Saturday was a grim day all round, and while the fans who travelled to Leeds went home for the 12th away Championship game in a row without seeing a Watford win, the head coach did find some minor positives.

“I think a defeat like that is part of the process. Sometimes it does you good when you see an opponent is better than you,” he said.

“You have to recognise and accept it, but we also have to work to make ourselves better.

“Like I said after the game, we have to make it harder for other teams.

“That’s not just the players – that also rests on me, my staff and everyone. Next time we have to assess the situation better and maybe to be more flexible.

“The opponent found another way to play against us. The first was to stay deep and compact, wait for the mistake and counter. Now the opponent with their quality found a way to force us to defend more.

“I take the positives from that game, and accept we have to perform better and make better decisions, and also to be more flexible.”