Walter Mazzarri feels his side are showing their winning quality in being able to "suffer but still win" - the hallmark of any good team.

The Hornets are getting into their stride despite not being at their best against Leicester last Saturday, and grinding out a 2-1 win after a second half where the Foxes failed to register a shot on goal.

The Italian proclaimed upon his arrival at Vicarage Road in July that he wanted to see his Watford side play in his image for 90 minutes, but said this week the rigours of the Premier League are proving difficult to overcome.

“It’s not easy because you have to take into consideration that you have an opposition in front of you,” he said.

“It’s always a very strong opponent. I’m very happy that we played well for a long time against Leicester, and taking into consideration the second half, we showed that we can suffer but still win.

“This is the positive. Of course, I would always want to have the whole 90 minutes playing incredibly well every week. but it’s very difficult in a league like the Premier League, you will always have good teams.”

This weekend Mark Hughes' Stoke City stand between the Hornets and their joint-best start to a top-flight season in their history, and Mazzarri is expecting to come up against a side feeling as angry as his Watford side were last weekend, after the Potters fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at the Bet365 Stadium last weekend.

He said: “We will find a Stoke who are angry because they lost their last game, and they will be looking to bounce back.

“Looking aside from the results, they have a good team and it’s a team which can play well against any side in the Premier League.

“But it’s always difficult to predict any result; you can win one game which you think is more difficult, then lose against an easier team.”

Last week, Mazzarri said he wanted to see anger from his players after their Liverpool humbling before the international break, and the Italian has made a point of telling his players to continue chanelling their feelings into games; starting this weekend against Stoke.

“This has been the subject of the whole week at the training ground,” he revealed. “Now we have to continue getting the positive results, and this is what an important team has to make the next big step.

“We have to go onto the pitch angry as when we went against Leicester, and always thinking that we lost the previous game, so we have to come back as angry as we were then.

“The important thing is to go altogether with great team spirit and continue to fight.”