Troy Deeney has described Watford's away win at Stoke City as a "turning point" for their successful Championship season.

The Hornets arrived at the Potteries on the back of two home wins, but with three defeats in their previous three away games in all competitions.

With a desperate need to turn things around away from Vicarage Road, the Hornets started the game tentatively and did not threaten their hosts.

However, a much improved second half saw them score twice and pick up only their third away win of the season.

During Watford's end of season awards show, Deeney said it was the moment when they started to work together as a team under Xisco Munoz.

"It was obviously a transitional period," said the club captain. "When you listen to what Scott [Duxbury] said earlier on, that kind of summed it up. The place was a bit down in the dumps and needed a bit of life put back into it and Xisco did that and the players responded and we won some important games.

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"I think the biggest game for me would have been Stoke away. That was a turning point because our home form was ridiculous, but there was a lot being said about us not winning away from home and we went and did it on a wet and windy night in Stoke."

The win did not come easily, however. Following that lacklustre first half, Deeney said the team had to come together and have some conversations at half time, which he thinks sparked improvements throughout the squad during the rest of the season.

"We were poor in the first half, we kept playing out from the back and inviting pressure on," he said. "There were a few conversations at half time people and I think everyone got together.

"I think you obviously saw Will [Troost-Ekong], Clevz coming out a bit later on and people like that all stepped up. Nate [Chalobah] obviously got a lot of credit. But you can go through the team and start seeing that. Sierralta is doing his thing, Danny Bachmann, Will Hughes, Sarr, everyone took it in turns to really step up, and that was, for the first time, a real team effort."