Troy Deeney has claimed that keeping Watford in the Premier League this season would be a ‘huge achievement’ but insists it is within the team’s capability to survive the drop.

Speaking ahead of a difficult fixture away at Premier League leaders Liverpool this Saturday, the club captain said he was paying no attention to any doom-mongers already consigning the Hornets to relegation and instead claimed he and new head coach Nigel Pearson both believe the club has what it takes to turn things around.

“If I was to be leading this team that was to stay up, it would be huge again,” said Deeney.

“The amount of money, the pressure, all of these different things that everybody else likes to throw around, it would be a huge achievement. I personally don’t think it’s out the realms of possibility when you look at the squad and the depth that we have there. We’re going to have to win three games when others don’t just to get out of it at this moment in time, but it’s a challenge and if you don’t want to be in a pressurised and challenging environment then professional football’s definitely not for you.

“If you listen to the noise outside, we’re already relegated, so what’s the point in playing? What’s the point in training? You may as well go, ‘here you are, here’s the three points’ every week, ‘we’re not supposed to be here’. That’s what the outside noise is. He [Pearson] very much came in and said that’s not the case and we’re aware that’s not the case.”

One thing that needs addressing if Watford are to stay up is their goal conversion rate, which is currently the worst in the Premier League for 18 years.

However, the skipper has been absent for three months of football with an injury, which may go some way to explaining the shortage of goals.

Now he has returned, the focus to find the net has shifted back onto Deeney, but he said he feels no pressure to score and suggested he is not a huge fan of statistics.

“I live under pressure,” he said.

“When I wasn’t playing, it was my fault, when I’m playing it’s my fault. This is not pressure to me. Pressure’s watching my mum work three jobs and trying to provide for Christmas, this isn’t pressure, this is the job. Win, lose or draw, someone’s going to say something. For argument’s sake, let’s say we beat Liverpool 1-0, I score the winning goal, there’s still going to be someone saying, ‘yeah, but he was crap though’. I can’t please everyone and I genuinely don’t care about people’s opinions. I would like the respect, but pressure to score goals, if that’s my only pressure in life, I’m very happy with that, I’ve done alright.

“It’s a load of nonsense, but I’m aware of many statistics and many numbers. People have opinions, but it’s week by week and we can only control what we can control in here and that’s what we’re doing, we’re working hard, no one’s given up. We’ve certainly not given up. If you were at the game on Saturday, you saw there was only one team pushing to the end to try and win and that’s what we’ve got to keep doing.

“Two weeks ago people were saying we weren’t going to get more than Derby [11 points], so we have to control what we can control in here. Don’t worry about statistics."