Yahoo Sport 
Bringing players back who had travelled may have partly caused Luton debacle
Tom Cleverley has admitted that the dreadful performance at Luton may have been influenced by him starting too many players who had been away on international duty.
The 3-0 defeat at Kenilworth Road was the first game after the previous pause in league fixtures, and the Hornets played like a team that was badly jet-lagged as they gave a truly insipid display.
Cleverley accepted that he may not have been wise to bring players straight back into the team who had been on long journeys.
“Maybe the performance at Luton came as a result of me using too many of the players that had been long travellers during that international break,” he said.
“That might affect team selection a little bit but I will have full confidence in any of our players. The squad will be utilised.
“We’ve got a strong squad and not got too many injury problems, and only one suspended.”
With players returning from the UK, Europe, Africa and South America, it means the squad will regroup incrementally.
“We have to be a little bit creative and we push ourselves as a staff to deliver the same meeting three or four times as players return on a staggered basis,” said Cleverley.
“It’s a period of time where we have to find solutions and not go straight to excuses.
“We are probably the most affected side and the Friday night game we could all think of as a huge problem, but we will find solutions and make sure the players are ready.
“If we have to use video more than we use training sessions then so be it.”
The head coach said that while the schedule has been a test, he doesn’t feel it has over-burdened him or his players.
“It has been full on but I feel like the international breaks have come at the right time, and we’ve used the time to do as much research as possible to prepare ourselves ahead of this next batch of games.
“The next period is going to be intense but I feel super prepared for it.”
Away form has to be addressed with six defeats in eight on the road, but Cleverley has seen optimistic signs.
“I think the last three games have been positive,” he said.
“At Leeds we were excellent apart from the first 15 minutes, then we won at Sheffield Wednesday and at Swansea we were flat but in the game.
“We are competitive away from home now, and we need to turn that into results.
“It’s certainly much better than it was.”
This particular trip is one of the longest of the season, and the logistics for Watford fans became even more difficult when Sky Sports moved the game to 8pm on a Friday night.
“Yeah of course we understand what the fans are facing,” said Cleverley.
“It’s a game I played in when I was on loan here and I think that was a night game too.
“My family went to it and so I know from the supporters’ point of view how inconvenient it can be.
“We also have enough players that will understand what getting to the game entails for the supporters.
“It’s up to us to make sure the effort is all worth it for the fans.”
