Tom Cleverley: Watford head coach says beating Sunderland was huge for momentum

Watford boss Tom Cleverley believes his side's win against Sunderland is a "massive" momentum changer for their early-season fortunes.

The Hornets are seventh in the Championship table, leading into the next round of matches on Tuesday and Wednesday - when they travel to Preston.

The 2-1 victory over the Black Cats, sealed by an 84th-minute penalty from Tom Dele-Bashiru, extended Watford's unbeaten run at Vicarage Road to 10 matches.

"We're now looking at the first seven games as a really good start," Cleverley told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"It was a massive momentum swinger for us, this one."

Watford continue another busy week with Wednesday's trip to Deepdale before hosting Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Having just ended a tough three-game week on a high, beating Sunderland after losing to Norwich and a strong Manchester City side in the Carabao Cup, Cleverley knows he will have to rely heavily on his entire squad.

The former Manchester United midfielder made nine changes for the cup game, before using all five substitutes against the Wearsiders, and says he has learned how to navigate the hectic schedule from one of his famous former managers.

"One thing I learnt from Sir Alex [Ferguson] was how he forward plans these weeks where you have three games," Cleverley said.

"I knew I'd use 16 players (against Sunderland) and I'm going to need all 20, 21 players in my first-team squad this week to be successful."

Appointed permanently in March, Cleverley is trying to mastermind a successful promotion campaign in his first full season in charge.

He says the manner of their late win last Saturday shows his revamped squad, refreshed with a dozen signings this summer, has the right character.

"I've been in relegation dressing rooms and title-winning dressing rooms and sometimes the difference between them is not quality," Cleverley said.

"It's the environment and how much you're prepared to dig in for each other. You can see everyone's digging in for one another and that was represented by our substitutes winning us that game."