Everton boss Marco Silva has thanked Troy Deeney for winding up his players ahead of their clash with Watford.

Deeney told a supporters' club event earlier this week that fans should not boo former Watford boss Silva as it was best for the players to "kick the s***' out of Everton".

"The players are aware of it," said Silva, who was also criticised by Watford chief executive Scott Duxbury. "Let's see what we lose or not from the situation. You can use many, many, many things.

"Each club can have their own strategy, Watford chose this strategy during the week. We have our strategy and let's see on the pitch what will be the best strategy. We are here to respect all the clubs, all our opponents.

"But, first of all, we have to respect ourselves. When they saw something like that, it is not good to listen to. I know they talked."