Birthday boy Tom Cleverley is embracing the breakneck speed of the Sky Bet Championship season, with the busy schedule even more packed this season due to the Qatar World Cup.

The club captain has been pleased with Watford’s start to the campaign and is excited for what is to come, following an opening-day win over Sheffield United and a valuable point picked up away at West Bromwich Albion. With Burnley next up tonight [August 12, 8pm BST], the midfielder explained to TalkSport on Thursday morning that a typical Championship season leaves little time for intense training sessions.

“We came off the pitch against Sheffield United in our first game after a proper battling Championship game and said to each other, ‘only 45 to go!’” Cleverley smiled. “It’s a battle of attrition but I like the challenge of the Championship, you’re competitive in every single game and I feel like I’m cut out for it.

“You try to do the bulk of your work in pre-season knowing that when the season starts there isn’t going to be much training. It’s a lot of videos, a lot of walkthroughs, systems and oppositions and you might get one session a week where you get a sweat on! For the lads who are playing most of the game it’s recovery, a little bit of preparation and going to battle again.”

Rob Edwards has imprinted his philosophy on the team already and is working to ensure the Hornets are cohesive and competitive in the second tier. Connecting with the skipper before his first day had even begun as Head Coach, Cleverley was full of praise for his impact so far at Vicarage Road.

“He’s very modern-day,” Cleverley explained. “He’s got his own system but can tinker with that. He’s a top man and rang me in the summer before I’d even met him, we spoke for an hour and I could’ve talked football with him all day.

“He’s a person you want to work hard for, you want to run through brick walls for him and we’ve started well. Monday [a 1-1 draw with West Brom] wasn’t our best performance but the gaffer’s good enough to adapt to those challenges and that starts tomorrow night against Burnley.”

The Clarets are next up in a tough start to the league season, and are sat level on points with the Golden Boys after two games. Also under new leadership, with former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany in charge, Cleverley expects a battle on Friday night.

“It’s strange now that a lot of people you’ve played against are in the opposition dugout,” he said. “He’s been a legend for Manchester City and in English football, and he’s got Burnley playing a different style of football, but we’ve got to make it as hostile as we can for him and his team. They were quite comfortable against Huddersfield when I watched them, so we’ve got to take note of that and make it as uncomfortable as possible.”

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