A visibly delighted Marco Silva was full of praise for his Watford side after they continued their increasingly encouraging start to the Premier League season with a 2-0 win at Southampton.

Fine strikes from Abdoulaye Doucoure and Daryl Janmaat ensured the unbeaten Hornets took their points tally to eight after marking it back-to-back away wins on the south coast following their triumph at Bournemouth by the same scoreline.

The Hornets boss said: “We deserved the three points. We controlled the match. It’s not easy to come here to Southampton and control all the match. They [his players] had a lot of very good ball possession, they create some play down the sides with the idea was always to play high, they created a lot of chances between the lines and they controlled everything. But we do a lot of work with our players and we showed some good football moments and very good transition in our physical organisation as well.

“I’m very happy. I’m happy with the attitude, the commitment and I liked our players enjoyed the match.”

When it was pointed out the goals may have come from unexpected sources, Silva smiled: “It can happen, it’s football. The first goal is one moment we worked really hard and prepared for everything, for winning the first ball, winning the second and to progress in that position. And the second goal is a great finish from Janmaat. It’s a moment sometimes you don’t expect, but you only score when you shoot. They were very, very good two goals.”

Key to the Hornets being able to size the upper hand was the work put in by the central midfield trio of Docuoure, Nathaniel Chalobah and Tom Cleverley.

Silva described the latter’s work-rate as “really amazing”, adding “but it’s not a surprise for me because it’s how he works every day”.

Stressing the importance of the all-round team performance, the Watford head coach continued: “They know our idea, our philosophy and we work every day. It’s always possible to play like we did today and we compete and we try to do something and to achieve something if we work hard.

“You need to play with courage, you need to play without fear if you play home or away, to respect every opponent but to play our football. It’s a pleasure for me to see, but we got only three points and now is the moment for us to rest and prepare for the next game.”