Following a 3-0 defeat in the reverse fixture against Boxing Day opponents Millwall back in October, Watford Head Coach Slaven Bilić is keen for his Hornets side to demonstrate how far they have progressed, as they seek a fifth consecutive clean sheet.

Buoyed by their 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town last Saturday, the Golden Boys’ nine-day gap between fixtures has allowed Bilić to further build on his philosophy on the training pitch.

While not boosted by any immediate returns from injury, the 54-year-old is pleased with the progress of the sidelined players, and could welcome some back into the fold in January.

“It’s been a good week,” reflected Bilić. “We played on Saturday and play next on Monday. We’ve had more than a week to prepare and it’s always a good situation, especially if it comes after a win. You’re in a good mood, you have a good platform to have different types of training and do more in every way.

“We’ve used it well and I’m really pleased with the situation now. Apart from a few injuries, but that situation is also improving and it is very likely a few of them will be back in a couple of weeks. I’m happy with the way we’re training and the concentration and focus.

“We have to transmit it onto the pitch; we did that against Huddersfield, and we still have three days before the game, but we’re in a good moment and have to work on it and keep it that way to make it an even better moment for us.”

Gary Rowett’s Lions sit five points behind Watford in 10th place, presenting a tough test for Bilić’s charges. While the previous meeting remains in his mind, the Hornets boss is more focused on seeing his side continue a rich vein of form.

“It’s a big test,” continued the Croatian. “We didn’t forget Millwall away, it was a game that hurt us. Every defeat hurts but that was done in 35 minutes, we couldn’t cope.

“At that time we had injury problems with the back four and it was very painful. Now we are in a different moment, we have options at the back, not only quantity but quality also. As a team we have improved a lot, have kept four clean sheets and to keep a fifth one we will have to be at the top of our game, not only at set-pieces but especially in that area.

“Every game is difficult, but this one especially so. We have extra motivation because of that defeat, that feels like yesterday.”

Without fresh injury concerns from the win against the Terriers, Bilić can count on the same players that travelled to Yorkshire last weekend. The only issue within the group is a minor bug.

“There’s a bit of a virus floating around that means a couple of players didn’t train in the last few days,” Bilić added. “It wasn’t always the same players, but a few of them had it. Players like [Keinan] Davis, [James] Morris, Mattie Pollock, they all had it.

“Some other players felt something after the game, every game brings that kind of situation but at the moment it’s nothing major like Hamza’s [Choudhury] or Edo Kayembe’s, so if we are talking about the squad from Huddersfield it should be more or less the same.”