Blackburn Rovers were given a fair warning not to underestimate Watford last weekend after watching them thump Preston North End.

The Hornets have quietly been one of the most improved teams in the Championship over recent months. After a slow start to the campaign, Valerien Ismael's side have taken 21 points from their last 11 games, the fifth-best record in that time.

Basically, aside from the imperious top four, Watford have been the division's next best. Their second-half comeback at Deepdale was a warning that they are to be taken seriously, even if expectations dipped over the summer at Vicarage Road.

In the reverse fixture, the Hornets had most of the play but a wonder goal from Ryan Hedges saw Rovers leave the Capital with all three points. Against a more clinical and ruthless outfit nowadays, they will need to produce an improved display.

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Ismael has seen his side building to the eye-catching result at Preston and knows those are the levels his team have to hit. The clinical edge they showed is the standards he wants them to hit moving forward.

"I think that in our evolution over the last six months, then today . . . that is what we want,” Ismael said.

“We explained to the players after the Ipswich game that we are now almost halfway through the season, and what we had next with Preston and Blackburn and Bristol City were very typical Championship games.

“They are games where we would have to be very solid and we knew that we were ready. The big ‘but’ was could we make the next step and start to be ruthless?

“In previous games, we have had so many chances to score, whether that was to put us in front or to bring us back into a game. We weren’t taking them.

“Today, especially in the second half, the shots were on target and good, and that makes us look completely different. We have another level of energy and it gave the players a big lift.”