Tom Cleverley has said that Watford have drawn a line under the defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday and that the players are using it as motivation to continue their push for promotion.

The de facto skipper admitted he was not sure how to deal with his teammates when a fracas broke out on the pitch at the Vitality during the closing moments of the Hornets' loss, but has since told the rest of the squad to channel their emotions positively as they try and continue the improvement they have shown in the last few weeks.

Ahead of an important game against bottom of the table Wycombe Wanderers, Cleverley said it was important to keep performing as they have been.

“Everyone has drawn a line under it, but we will react well to it, we will use this as motivation," the midfielder told the club website. "Incidents like the weekend are very powerful. No-one likes losing or losing in the manner we did. None of us are angels and I might sound like a bit of a sore loser, but I don't think they will be proud of how they acted during that game.

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Action Images

“I've not been captain of the team for too long and not dealt with players in situations like that before. It will be a big learning experience and my advice was to use those emotions as motivation. I'm now even more motivated than I was before Saturday."

Despite tonight's visitors to Vicarage Road languishing at the wrong end of the table, the 1-1 draw at Adams Park earlier in the season shows that they are capable of causing an upset, particularly with their physical approach.

“They caused us loads of problems,” said Cleverley of the reverse fixture back in October. “It will be a different challenge to the ones we have had in recent weeks. It will be a tough challenge and we need to react from Saturday and get back out there.

PA

PA

“Akinfenwa is a challenge and he caused us a lot of problems at their place. I'm sure we have learnt from that and we must take confidence from how we have been defending recently. We will look to control possession of the ball and create a few more chances than we did on Saturday. We have to make it about us.”