Daniel Pudil believes Watford are now ready to secure promotion to the Premier League and says the Hornets owner is making sure the club will remain in the top flight.

Since the Pozzo takeover in 2012, the Golden Boys’ aim has been to reach the top tier of English football.

They have come close. In the 2012/13 campaign the club just missed out on automatic promotion and then suffered a Play-Off final defeat. Last season was a disappointment. The Hornets ended in 13th place.

The Premier League is an uncompromising place. Mistakes are ruthlessly punished by multimillion pound players who are worldwide stars.

The danger of being ill-prepared could leave any club scrapping at the foot of the table, with few points, a dreadful goal difference, and worst of all, the ignominy of immediate relegation amid accusations of “too much, too soon.”

Pudil cited the problems encountered by the Premier League’s bottom team Burnley who, against the odds, won promotion under former Hornets boss Sean Dyche last season.

Without investing the financial resources to significantly strengthen, the Clarets have only four points and a paltry five goals.

Pudil admitted. “I don’t want to go up and be like Burnley. They are struggling to win games and are being punished. Our owner knows the situation and is making sure when we go up we stay up for more than one season.”

Note the word “when”, not “if”. If Pudil is lacking confidence about what the future holds for Watford it doesn’t show. And he is not the only one based on recent interviews with Hornets players.

“Now it is the time for us to go up,” said the 29-year-old, who has won 26 caps for the Czech Republic and has played in the Champions League.

“Since I came to Watford we have only had one target and that was promotion.

“That first season I was here, we had a great chance but we lost that Leeds game to go up automatically and then we were beaten in the Play-Off final.

“Last season was a big surprise. We couldn’t achieve what we wanted and there was a lot of expectation on us.

“Now it is the time. The owner and staff are doing everything for us. We have the new training pitches, the improved canteen and they’re finishing the East Stand.

“So now is the time to stand up and go for promotion.”

Watford owner Gino Pozzo has come under criticism this season for the number of head coaches the Hornets have employed. 

Beppe Sannino, Oscar Garcia and Billy McKinlay have all departed. Slavisa Jokanovic is charged with taking the Golden Boys into the Premier League and then, hopefully, keeping them there. 

Pudil said: “He is very good and is saying the right things. He makes the right points and really explains to us how he wants us to play.”

While the Hornets’ ‘club image’ may have been slightly tarnished to outsiders due to their managerial merry-go-round, a big positive seems to have emerged; the bond existing between the players has been strengthened.  

Pudil explained: “We are together and we are always behind each other. I think the changes have made us closer to each other and we’ve shown character on the pitch. 

“I understand why people think it’s strange, especially if they read the newspapers. They do not see what is going on inside the club though. It’s the owner’s decision. He can do whatever he likes.”

He added: “It’s a bad thing for the managers because they are working for a few days. For us it has made us come together. We are doing the right things on the pitch.”

While the Premier League can be unsparingly tough, the Championship is unrelenting. The Hornets are currently second in the table and are level on points with leaders Derby County and Wolverhampton Wanderers after 14 games. 

It is a long and arduous campaign but Watford have started well. 

Players such as Keith Andrews, Lloyd Dyer and Craig Cathcart were added in the summer and will not be fazed or surprised by the unremitting fixture list. 

Pudil said: “We needed people like that because they knew the Championship and they know English football.

“Last season we brought in the people from Italy and Spain and they didn’t know the league. The Championship is very hard and you need players like them to help the side.”

A short-lived return to the Premier League is not in Pozzo’s plans. The club will aim to be in it for the long haul. Pudil believes the Hornets are ready but they must escape the Championship first.