Watford defender Adrian Mariappa admits manager Javi Gracia pushes for unity amongst the players.

Gracia has proved the longest serving manager at Watford under the Pozzo family.

"He has got the whole team working together as one," Mariappa told Sky Sports about Gracia. "When you keep a clean sheet it's a collective effort from everyone, that's what he demands day in, day out in training, so that carries onto the pitch.

"He is different from Marco Silva [Gracia's predecessor], but then every manager I have had has been different. Their ideas are very different. You can see all the lads have brought into the gaffer's ideas and are really pulling in the same direction.

"He has been spot-on since he came in. He had a very difficult job when he came here with so many injuries and he steadied the ship. We had a good pre-season so he could get his own ideas across and how he wants us to train and play. That is one of the big reasons why we have done so well this year."