Yahoo Sport 
'December is the month that can separate the men from the boys'
We are in the middle of the month which, in the Championship, can separate the men from the boys.
That is the message Tom Cleverley has given his Watford players ahead of tonight’s trip to Hull City.
Even with the postponement of Saturday’s game at Cardiff, the Hornets have five Championship games to play before January – add in the trip to QPR and the home game against Sheffield United in the first few week of January and Watford have seven league fixtures in 25 days.
“There are 21 points to play for in less than 30 days, and those next 30 days will help the picture of the play-offs become clearer,” said Cleverley.
“What I would say is, and I’ve said this to the players, December is the month that can separate the men from the boys and so we have to be relentless.
“And I say relentless in terms of training as well as in games.
“December is the month where things happen.”
Many feel the current top two, Sheffield United and Leeds, will be the clubs automatically promoted come May.
“I’d include Burnley in that myself, and having watched Sunderland recently they are a very impressive young team,” said Cleverley.
“So I wouldn’t say the top two are clear, even though going to Leeds is a tough task for any team.
“I also like Middlesbrough, and they were at Leeds last night.”
Not playing at the weekend means the Hornets have dropped out of the top six, and the priority now is to start winning away games.
“You want the performance of Plymouth with the mentality of being able to grind it out like we did against Bristol City,” the head coach explained.
“If you merge those two together then that is ideally what I want.
“But if I was offered one or the other, then I’d take Bristol City every day of the week, winning the game in not a great fashion – whereas at Plymouth I really enjoyed watching my team but we only got a point.
“I didn’t enjoy us so much against Bristol City, but that one was three points.”
The Hornets’ home record is only bettered by the top two, but they have taken fewer points on the road than all the sides above them.
It’s not as simple, though, as just doing in away games what you do at home.
“I think there are probably only two or three teams who can play the same way in every game because they have the quality to do so,” explained Cleverley.
“We’re finding the balance away from home, and in our last four away games we’ve been competitive.
“It’s only a matter of time before that starts turning into points.
“Having watched Leeds play at home for the last few times, nobody has got anywhere close to them and yet I felt we deserved something the evening we went there.
“So the quality of away performance is getting higher and higher, and I thought we were excellent at Plymouth without getting the result.
“We’ve built a foundation to get a result from away from home, and we’re getting closer and closer to that balance.”
