Scoring his first Watford goal a record 10 years, 11 months and 25 days on from his Hornets debut, Britt Assombalonga was delighted to open his account in front of the Rookery faithful in a 3-0 win over Birmingham City.

Firing in the third in unorthodox fashion, the DR Congo international felt relieved to hit the back of the net and cap off an unforgettable evening at Vicarage Road.

“It was a great moment!” smiled Assombalonga. “For me those kinds of goals are a typical striker’s goal and the same for me as scoring a 40-yarder. A goal’s a goal! To score 10 years later is a special moment!

“It was the perfect moment to get it here; it’s been a long time coming but finally here and all I have to do is push on.”

Responding instantly to Saturday’s narrow defeat against Queens Park Rangers, the striker admitted there were frank conversations within the squad going into the midweek clash, and momentum has to be built moving forward.

“Coming back from defeat on Saturday everyone was gutted, but we said we’ve got to turn things around and this is the first step. We’ve got to take each step as it comes and keep winning.

“We come with the same application as we did in this game. Everyone was on it from the starting XI to the subs, we’re a team and everyone’s giving their all.”

Assombalonga reserved special praise for the supporters, who backed the team throughout.

The forward added: “Results in the past have not gone our way but to still have the support of everyone behind us is great and we’ll build on that.”