Watford captain Troy Deeney admits he lost his appetite for the game after paying attention to social media.

Deeney, however, insists he's rediscovered his enthusiasm.

He said, “I'm excited - I've got the buzz back for football.

“I lost it for a little bit and that's been reflected in all the people who tell me I've lost loads of weight.

“I got my own little team together over the summer: a nutritionist, a ­psychologist, working with Jamie Reynolds (one of world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua's ­trainers), and I stuck to a plan.

"The hardest thing for me is not having a plan and being left to my own devices.

“What made me do it? People writing me off – I didn't love it at the time, but I love it now because they will have to come back begging (for forgiveness)... that's the part I can't wait for.

“I lost the love because the ­fickleness, all the pussyfooting around in football, was really getting to me.

"I'm not the kind of person who likes to keep his mouth shut. But when you speak up and ­challenge things, and you end up getting in trouble, it makes you think, 'Do I want to do this any more'?"

He added: “When you post a picture of your daughter and people are ­saying certain things, you want to go and deal with it. But it's probably a 15-year-old kid who's just got home from school and he's bored."