Zola not afraid to ring the changes

“Does it give me a problem? Yes, please. I love to have problems like this.”

Maybe he has another problem coming his way as an unsung club suggest they have the depth and quality to challenge for an unexpected return to the Premier League.

But for the moment, Zola prefers to focus only on bettering the achievements of the man he controversially replaced at Vicarage Road, Sean Dyche, who guided Watford to an 11th-placed finish last season before the club’s takeover cost him his job.

“My target doesn’t change,” said Zola. “It’s a season of learning about things and doing better than Watford did last year. We’ll see how far we can go.

“I don’t know the full potential yet. I don’t think we’ve realised it. But I do see improvements every day. I’m delighted with this position, it’s certainly very encouraging.

“But there’s a long way to go. We are not even at halfway and there is a lot of work to do.”

Underlying Zola’s mantra is that no player in his charge should think of himself as indispensable, as Troy Deeney found out last night.

Deeney started on the bench as Zola chose instead to replace him with on-loan Argentine striker Fernando Forestieri. But the decision to start with Forestieri worked a treat as he cancelled out Michail Antonio’s third-minute goal for Wednesday.

Forestieri was a nagging threat right up to his late replacement by Deeney, who scored Watford’s third goal within seconds of coming on the pitch.

Zola said: “The players have to realise it’s not about me, it’s not about Fernando or any other player. It’s about the club. Fernando has lots of enthusiasm but sometimes has to play it more simply. He tries unbelievable things when it is not necessary but he is becoming more of a team player.”

Alexandre Geijo scored Watford’s second goal from a free-kick by Mark Yeates, who rounded off the triumph with a superb 20-yard volley. But goalkeeper Manuel Almunia deserved some share of the honours, too, for saving a Chris Lines penalty when the score was 1-1.