Today's game sees Tom Cleverley up against his former head coach at Watford, Chris Wilder, although the current Hornets boss never actually played a game for him.

An ankle injury was bringing an end to Cleverley’s playing career and he wasn’t available for any of the 11 games Wilder had in charge.

However, the current Sheffield United boss got Cleverley involved in the managerial side of things, opening a door that he was to step through not long after.

“I have massive respect for Chris,” said the Watford head coach.

“When I had my bad injury under him he invited me to come and be part of all his preparation meetings, his game plan meetings, and that was my first real exposure to first-team coaching.

“It was brilliant for me to have that exposure and see how much detail they go into for a game.

“It was fantastic for me to see the man-management side of things as well.

“I will forever be thankful to him for that.

“He has also been promoted from this division before so he has experience of success, and they have a really strong squad.”

Wilder coming up against a former club adds another layer of intrigue to a game that already looked tough when the fixtures were announced.

The Blades came down from the Premier League and haven’t been shy about freshening up their squad with 10 new signings, three of whom cost £1m or more.

“For me this is the biggest test of our season so far,” Cleverley admitted.

“That is not meant to be disrespectful to anyone we have played so far, but it’s a tough place to go after a run of four home games, which is quite rare.

“I expect the quality they’ve added in this transfer window to mean it’s our biggest test.

“I have challenged the players to produce the biggest performance of the season so far and I know they are capable of doing that.”

The last time Watford travelled for a league match to Millwall a few weeks ago, they were going as a team that had a poor 23/24 campaign and were being written off for the current season.

Five wins, and nine league points, means a lot has changed with regard to how they are perceived, both internally and externally.

“I hope it changes things from a mindset point of view for the players,” said Cleverley.

“I want them to start feeling like they’re a top team, and no sort of inferiority complex when we get out there on the pitch.

“I feel like the last two games I’ve been really pleased with the mindset: against Derby we showed patience and calmness to break them down, and then on Tuesday against Plymouth I thought the win was very routine and efficient, a top-team mindset.

“We need to continue to grow that and this will be a big marker.

“I am happy with where we are from a quality point of view, but this will be a marker of where we’re at from a mindset point of view.”

Could Watford’s largely unexpected lofty position in the early league table mean the Blades look at them differently?

“Possibly, and I’m sure they’ll respect us. They don’t take liberties with other teams.

“I think back to the season when we got promoted and I think Reading were top of the league for five or six games and everyone started viewing Reading in a different way.

“At the end of the season, Reading didn’t even finish in the play-offs.

“It’s very much a game-by-game process, and we’ll use the international break to reflect and look at where we can be better.”