Watford manager Tom Cleverley says his side’s goalless draw against QPR at Vicarage Road is another building block rather than a disappointing result against a relegation-threatened team.
The point extended Watford’s unbeaten record at home under Cleverley to 15 games.
Cleverley said: “I thought that the pressure we put them under in the second half deserved to kick the door down, but on balance they probably shaved the best of the chances today.
“The result was a fair one. It was 0-0, but I’m not sure how. It was more of an entertaining 0-0 than a bore draw.
“Every Championship game offers up a different set of challenges. They are a well-coached team and if they get into a rhythm they are quite hard to break down. We struggled to deal with that in the first half.
“But with a change of system and a change of mentality, I thought we were entertaining in the second half. We were really pushing to win it and leaving ourselves a bit exposed.
“We utilised the whole squad today and I thought the subs brought us some fresh impetus.
“Our home record is one that we’re really proud of as is the connection that we’ve managed to build with our supporters and we’ve managed to preserve it.
“We’re going to have frustrating days. It’s a long old season. We have big ambitions internally and I want to keep striving towards them.”
QPR manager Marti Cifuentes also had reason to look forward with optimism.
His side backed up their midweek victory at Cardiff with a second successive clean sheet on the road to make it three games unbeaten.
Cifuentes said: “The feeling is that it was a good performance against a very good team that is very, very strong at home. We made them change formation. We were a bit disappointed about the result and that says a lot.
“It was a good week for us with five points which could or maybe should have been better, but now we need to keep working and keep humble.
“From my experience here so far in the Championship, the next three or four months are the most important.”
Cifuentes praised Slovenia striker Zan Celar who saw one shot saved by Watford keeper Daniel Bachmann and another strike hit the post in the dying minutes.
He added: “There was a bit of talk about him last Saturday when he missed a penalty (against Stoke). But we have a player that has shown in his career that he can score a lot of goals, and not just for one season.
“When he was younger at Roma and in Italy and we can see in training that he is an excellent finisher.
“The main challenge when you come to English football is the pace of the game. During the game and from game to game. You need to recover quickly. Some players can adapt quickly and others take time.
“But what I’m pleased about with Zan is that he is humble and eager to work. To miss a penalty last Saturday and score two goals against Cardiff says a lot about his mentality and he did a lot of good things today.”
