Watford midfielder Tom Cleverley has said the Hornets will be looking to put their stamp on the Championship in the opening fixtures of the 2022/23 campaign.

The club have been handed a difficult start to life back in the second tier, hosting Sheffield United at home on August 1st, before then facing West Brom (A) and Burnley (H).

Reacting to those fixtures, Cleverley suggested he was relishing the challenge.

"Obviously three of the bigger teams in the league, but listen, we'll be trying to stamp our authority on the league and and it'd be no better place to do it then against three of the more fancied teams and two of those games at home." the midfielder told Sky Sports.

"As a player, I think we're all the same and me I go to the first game, I go to boxing day and I go to the last game, in that order, and I think we've got all three of those games at home.

"The first one being a bit special against Sheffield United, one of the massive clubs in the league and, and live on Sky on a Monday night. It's an exciting game for us, but for the fans as neutrals as well."

Tom Cleverley was a key part of the Watford side that won promotion from the Championship to the Premier League in 2020/21.

During that campaign, the 32-year-old featured 34 times for the club.

The Verdict

Tom Cleverley sounds confident about Watford's chances next season - and why wouldn't he?

The last time the Hornets came down they went straight back up, and it sounds as though they will be aiming to do so again.

The fixtures couldn't be much trickier to start with, though.

With that said, if the Hornets can come out of those opening three matches with a decent haul of points, it sets them up nicely for the rest of the campaign in terms of morale.