‘Fancied’ Watford the toughest test yet for perfect Sheffield Wednesday defence

Monk’s side have started the season with three wins and three clean sheets on the spin and clawed back three points on the 12-point deduction in a spirited 2-0 win at Cardiff last weekend.

But the test gets turned up another dial, he said, as the Hornets arrive fresh from relegation from the Premier League and an opening day win against Middlesbrough.

Much has been made of the swell of international-class players in the Watford squad and if their manager’s words are anything to go by the Owls will be well aware of the challenge they’re facing.

“Watford’s squad is one of, if not the strongest in the league,” he said.

“Having watched them in pre-season, there's always a lot of talk about relegated teams and confidence but to me they look a very confident team.

“They’re going to be one of the strong contenders this year and as I said before, looking at this first period of games leading up to the first international break, it’s a tough run.

“We’ve started it well, but we’re playing against teams that are fancied to be up there, most of them.

“We saw how hard we had to work on Saturday to get the result and it’ll be nothing less than that in terms of getting a result against Watford.”

The match will be a particular test of the Owls’ so far faultless backline, who will have to be on their mettle to extend that handsome run of clean sheets.

“Watford have a lot of mobility attacking-wise and a lot of talent in their squad, so it will be a big test for us on a tough run,” Monk said.

“We’re under no illusions, we’ve had a good start but all these fixtures before the international break are going to test us.

“I guess the message is always ‘more of the same’, but we understand how difficult it’s going to be, this is going to be one of the most fancied teams out there.

“They have a lot of dynamic players, a lot of movement, a lot of quality, so we’re going to be put to the test.”

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