It didn’t take anyone very long on Saturday to realise that Watford’s switch to 3-5-2 favoured Middlesbrough more than the Hornets.

As the hosts struggled to adapt, Boro raced into a 2-0 lead and when the teams emerged for the second half it was a quick return to the familiar 4-3-3.

However, Valerien Ismael said that changing shape and tactics cannot and will not be shelved just because of one bad experience.

“I think we tried something on Saturday and it didn’t work out,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean we won’t change again, but at the minute it’s clear that in the second half when we came back to our regular shape and to our identity, it worked straight away.

“It means the players have absorbed that philosophy and it is implemented within the squad, so we need to reinforce that message.

“But that doesn’t mean that maybe throughout games you won’t need to do something else and to change.

“We will be flexible to change, to make sure we take the right decisions to win games or to save games. You never know what you might need to do in a situation.”

The head coach went into a bit more detail as to why the change to 3-5-2 imploded.

“The main issue was the players were unsure of some movements we have used well in 4-3-3, but when we had a back three they just hesitated,” he said.

“Middlesbrough then used that hesitation clearly, and we were two down. We then changed the shape and readjusted.

“It was my call and I just put the doubt in the mind of the players. You saw in the second half we changed and straight away we came back to 4-3-3 and it was fluid from the first second.

“Okay, the change didn’t work out at the minute. It may be too early to switch, but it doesn’t mean we won’t use it if we need it for a game later on.

“For now we have to reinforce our identity. We have a clear identity with 4-3-3, and the energy we have within that formation is clear.

“We have the solution, we’ve found the solution, if we have to do something else in the game we will do it. Sometimes you have to be flexible.

“We lost the game on Saturday but we actually got the positive answers for the next step in our process.

“We know what we can do, and know we cannot do at the minute. It’s helped me and my staff to have a clear vision with the players.”