Championship-topping stat shows Watford FC hit the jackpot with £250k deal | OneFootball

Mattie Pollock has proven himself as a top Championship player after being trusted by Tom Cleverley this season

After being largely written off before a ball had been kicked in the 24/25 Championship campaign, Watford FC continue to prove the doubters wrong under Tom Cleverley.

The Hornets sit in sixth spot heading into the international break, having started the season in imperious form, with five straight wins in all competitions seeing them fly out of the blocks.

It has largely been all or nothing with the Hertfordshire side, with eight wins and six defeats from their 15 matches, with just a single draw against Coventry City to their name, as their brand often results in plenty of chances at either end.

When you play such an expansive game, you need your defensive unit to rise to the challenge, and in Matty Pollock, Watford have a player who is proving his worth in the centre of the backline, with the £250,000 signing proving his worth with every performance of late.

Matty Pollock is the best in the Championship at this one thing

Cleverley has mainly relied on a back three during his time in charge at Vicarage Road, with the Pollock commanding the defence from his central role, as he helps repel any attacks coming towards his penalty area.

With James Morris and Ryan Porteus alongside him to patrol the 18-yard box, the two wing-backs can bomb forward and provide width from an attacking point of view, although that often leaves them exposed in wide areas when the opposition come forward.

Not that Pollock is worried about that, for his prowess in the air is second to none in the Championship this season, with no other player topping his 77 aerial duels throughout the campaign.

Crosses into the box have been meat and drink for the 23-year-old, who continues to develop into a top-quality centre-back for the level, having played a major part in his side being in the leading pack a third of the way through the season.

As his side try with all their might to cling on to a lead, Pollock’s resoluteness at the back has had a massive contribution to picking up points, with wave after wave of aerial bombardment being thwarted.

It will be no surprise to see the highest number of headers won coming against Millwall, with the direct playing style of the Lions at the start of the season lending itself to plenty of tussles for air-bound balls, with Pollock often coming out the victor.

Last Friday’s victory against Oxford United also put that ability to the test, with ten duels won that day, as a slender 1-0 lead remainder intact until the final whistle.

Mattie Pollock impresses after Watford FC turnaround

If you had told a Watford fan, or even Pollock himself back in January, that he would play a starring role in the Hornets being in touch with the leading pack at the start of the 24/25 campaign, there wouldn’t have been many that would have believed you.

Having joined from Grimsby Town for a reported £250,000 back in the summer of 2021, the defender struggled to get into the side for much of his time at Vicarage Road, which led to him handing in a transfer request at the start of the year.

According to the Watford Observer, it was only a paperwork issue with a potential replacement that kept the ex-Aberdeen loanee at the club in January, and ten months on, both player and club are in a better position than they have been for a long time.

Since then, the centre-back has played a starring role, with more minutes in the bank at the end of the last campaign, before starting each and every Championship fixture in 24/25, and proving what a bargain he was all those years ago.

Since Cleverley’s appointment - first as interim boss and then permanently - Pollock has been trusted to command the backline, and he hasn’t disappointed since his promotion, as his burgeoning talent has been allowed to come to the fore.

So much so that the Hornets have tied the defender down to a long-term deal earlier this month, with his new contract seeing him linked to the club until the summer of 2029, and thus protecting his value if another club does ever come in with a transfer offer.

Cleverley has even hinted at the emerging talent as being the future captain of the club, which marks the star turnaround in fortune in the space of a calendar year, with the former Cheltenham Town man thriving in his role at the back.

If he can keep this sort of form up, there is no reason why Watford can’t continue to defy the odds and stay in touching distance of the play-offs for the remainder of the campaign, with his aerial prowess in no doubt after the start to the season.