Having made a good start to the season, the goals dried up for Vakoun Bayo – and when he went round the keeper at Preston on Saturday but saw his goalbound shot cleared off the line it would have been easy for his chin to hit his chest.

However, the striker seems to live with a smile on his face and has a very upbeat manner, and he stuck to the task, got the Hornets level and then played a pivotal part in the second half demolition job.

“I’m very happy to be back starting because before today it had been a very long time since I scored. Two goals was great for me,” he said, after ending a nine-game run without netting.

Reflecting on his first-half effort that was cleared off the line, Bayo referred to something his head coach has also talked about.

“I think, in those situations, I maybe had to show more patience because if I had taken another touch then maybe the defender would not have been able to stop the goal,” he said.

“But I kept pushing and I got another chance just before half, and that was an important goal because it got us back to 1-1.

“I’ve had to wait. We have different types of striker so sometimes we play three or four games in a row. Today it was me, so I showed something and I’m very happy to help the team.

“We’re so proud of the team and we’re very happy today to score five goals away. It wasn’t an easy one, it was a difficult game, but we made it easy and we’re so happy.”

Patience, and the need to stay calm, was something Valerien Ismael emphasised at half-time at Deepdale.

“At half-time, the manager said to be calm and we will get chances to score more goals,” Bayo explained.

“We did create a lot of chances and we made it easy for ourselves. I’m so proud of our team, the way we played and always believed.”

Bayo’s first goal was a fine back-post header while his second came after a delicious pass from Edo Kayembe.

“It’s been a long time since I scored with my head, so I was happy with the first goal,” he said.

“The second goal was something beautiful, a good pass from Edo and I was so happy to score because it’s been a long time.”