Watford boss Slaven Bilic says he will use the 2-1 win over Norwich City as a blueprint for his team’s Championship season.

Imran Louza and Keinan Davis cashed in on the Canaries woeful defensive effort before the break at Vicarage Road on Saturday, with Josh Sargent's 45th minute strike proving academic.

While the Hornets’ new manager believed the intensity shown by his players from the start was a pleasing aspect, he pointed to the reaction to Sargent’s goal just before half-time, which halved the lead.

“What pleases me the most is that last week we conceded the second goal and straight away our heads were down,” he said. “We conceded in a bad moment, but instead of going into half-time with a negative approach, it didn’t affect us. Still, we were brave and we wanted to play with a number of players.

“In the second half, I was pleased because we suffered together, and we could hurt them as well. Overall, I’m very happy. Last week was our first chance to work on intensity and maybe it was a coincidence, but for me, it wasn’t. They were so intense this week in a couple of sessions.

“We have to use this as a blueprint, to know what we have to do in the future against a really good team who were in the Premier League last year. Don’t be afraid and don’t lack confidence against anyone.

“The intensity was great. It’s like the game you’re waiting for; it was like a cup final.

“From the start, we were so concentrated, on the front foot with the ball and without. On the ball, we stretched them and we were always trying to move forward. Our first idea wasn’t to pass it back or square.

“When we were getting in good situations with our forward players, they went one versus one. The only bad thing about the first half was the result, which was positive, but from my point of view, it should or could have been 3-0 or 4-0.

“Your fitness affects your performance and we are lacking a little which you could see after 70 minutes, but the desire was still there and we wanted to press.

"Some players are lacking that sharpness because they haven’t trained for a few weeks, but when those players get in that shape and others come back from injury, and it’s our job to get them there, then we will have a serious team if we continue like this.”