Troy Deeney believes he has plenty left to give despite being the wrong side of 30 in the eyes of many pundits.

Deeney, who celebrated his 30th birthday in June, has started the season in impressive fashion for Watford and helped lead the Hornets to three straight wins.

He opened his goalscoring account in a 3-1 win at Burnley and looks to have formed a promising partnership with Andre Gray at the point of the Watford attack.

Last season saw many write off the Watford skipper, but Deeney is eager to show he still has plenty to offer as he heads into the latter stages of his career.

“They say by 30 your career is going downhill. Well I reckon the people who said that never had a career or didn’t work hard enough when they got to 30,” Deeney told the Watford programme.

“I am going to try and be more with the Premier League players who ignored their age and carved out something to be proud of for their career north of 30.

“Let’s see what happens but I am pleased with how it’s started. It is all about today now. This league never does you a favour or gives you a breather.”

Deeney’s hopes of making an impact this season saw the striker approach his pre-season preparation with a renewed focus.

He says the criticism he received informed the decision to up his intensity and he has benefitted from upping his work rate.

He said: “Along with a bit of social media [criticism] and a few fans giving me a bit of stick, which I occasionally look at for motivational purposes, I made a positive choice to have a massive go this summer.”