Walter Mazzarri believes the added competition provided by Watford’s January signings and players returning from injury is helping the Hornets find their form.

M’Baye Niang, Tom Cleverley and Mauro Zarate all arrived at Vicarage Road last month and have helped the Hornets embark on a four-game unbeaten run, which has taken them to ninth in the league.

The Hornets head coach feels even experienced campaigners, such as captain Troy Deeney, have been sparked into form by the extra options.

“I always said that competition is very important for us and for the players. The players that are coming back and starting to play means there is competition,” he said.

“Even Troy, you see he is doing extremely well now, much more than before. He knows that I expect the maximum intensity in training, because at the end of training I take my decisions and decide who can play.”

Watford’s activity in the transfer market, has been supplemented by an easing injury list which has seen a number of players returning to fitness.

Mazzarri believes a stronger squad will help combat an Achilles heel, which has seen the Hornets struggle in the second half of matches, and lead to a strong conclusion to the season.

“For the majority of the season, we didn’t do as well in the second half as we have been doing in the first half because we have players coming back who don’t have 90 minutes,” he said.

“Now we are starting to get some players back from injuries and we improve their condition. It means that we can do very well from here until the end of the season.”