After any defeat in football, it is normal to hear the same old line trotted out - 'we want to get this out of our system as quickly as possible'.

But not for Walter Mazzarri, it appears. The Italian head coach has not hidden his satisfaction with an unbroken two-week period to work with his entire squad in lieu of an FA Cup quarter final, in a rare opportunity to take to the training ground without worrying about the following weekend's game.

Mazzarri and his side have rightly come in for criticism for their inability to see out recent games - having taken an early lead in both of their last two Premier League fixtures, only to end up with a solitary point.

It has left the head coach with the belief not that his Hornets squad need to put more work in, but instead that they are yet to develop a fully-formed winning mentality.

It is something he has rarely had to concern himself with in recent years, when at the helm of title-chasing Inter Milan and Napoli in his home country, but Mazzarri has made a point of focusing on it over the past fortnight.

And now, he is confident his Hornets squad are heading in the right direction ahead of the final 11 games of the season.

He said: "I hear people talking about us and saying we do more training than other teams in the Premier League, so it’s not a case of working harder.

“It can happen that in my team there are players who are not used to having the right mentality because they are not used to being in the top of their league. In the last few years, when I managed teams in Italy, I think my lowest position was fifth - so I managed to have that right mentality with all my players.

“It’s taking a bit longer here but we are getting there and it’s a case of us getting that mentality. We have had great performances against Arsenal, Manchester United at home and Everton - and after that we’ve lowered our performance sometimes. It’s just about consistency and the mentality.

“It doesn’t happen often that we play so few games in a month. These two weeks have been beneficial.

“The reason for that is that I have the whole group to train and work – I think we have improved some of the small details we needed to, and it’s been good, especially ahead of the last 11 games.

“The important thing is that what we did in these two weeks was for the rest of our season, and I want my team to play the next 11 games taking the performance at Arsenal especially.

“I want them to have the same spirit – if we do that, I will be very happy. We may lose games, but with that spirit we will be fine.”