The Watford squad enjoyed an eventful day three of their pre-season camp in Austria, with two training sessions, a change in weather, Rob Edwards’ initiation song and a new face in the group.

Similarly to day two, the training began soon after breakfast, but the players were greeted by clouds rather than beaming sunshine on Thursday morning. Light rain followed but didn’t disrupt the session, with players slightly relieved to train in cooler conditions.

An attack vs defence drill was completed before an 11v11 training match, with others continuing recovery in the gym.

Assistant Head Coach Richie Kyle led the session after lunch, starting with a handball game before more match-style situations as the rain got heavier in Scheffau am Wilden Kaiser.

Kyle has been pleased with the work ethic and attitude of the group so far, getting to know the players on and off the pitch.

“They’ve been great,” said Kyle. “The weather’s been fantastic until now, the scenery and hotel have been great in terms of facilities, it’s everything we wanted.

“I think for us to be away and get to know the lads really helps us get to know everyone, especially for myself and Rob, there’s a lot of new staff as well.”

Kyle is happy with the squad’s progress in pre-season so far, and feels being in Austria with the group has helped.

Kyle continued: “It’s really important, it’s hard sometimes at the training ground to spend enough time with people as there’s lots going on, but when you’re here with them 24/7 you get to learn about the individual. It gives us time to get to know them, know how they work, and more importantly they’ll get to know how we want to play in more detail, we get more time with them on that.

“Pre-season is about fitness, getting them back to the levels they should be and getting ready for the first game of the season which is the goal. Everyone needs to be ready, fit and resilient.”

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The squad had a short break after training, which provided the opportunity for the Head Coach to perform his highly-anticipated initiation song. Following on from Kyle’s impressive showing the day before, Edwards entertained with Bon Jovi’s Always, using a water bottle as a fake microphone, walking down the players’ table and earning similar praise to his assistant.

Also performing were the media team and a coach, with one of the waiters getting in on the act with an Austrian rap song to cap off the performances.

Following a team meeting, Colombian midfielder Yaser Asprilla joined up with the group for the first time since signing from Envigado. The 19-year-old, who arrived after a 19-hour flight, met Edwards before getting some rest ahead of starting training on Friday.

Love Island and games of Uno were the pastimes in the evening before the squad went to sleep, with a busy Friday to follow.

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