TROY DEENEY

As a result, Javi Gracia’s Watford go into the international break, having won four from four in the Premier League, level with Chelsea and Liverpool.

Powerhouse Deeney has led from the front, week in and week out, and scored twice. Reynolds cannot help but feel proud.

“Troy is always the hardest worker in the gym and somehow manages to get an extra 10% out of everyone else who is training at the same time,” said Reynolds.

Turning 30 made something click inside the player, who told himself he could not “party like a rock star” and still compete in the Premier League.

England would never come calling if he could not keep up either, and that remains an ambition after turning down the chance to represent Jamaica.

Deeney was 22 when he joined Watford from Walsall for £250 000, in 2010. Since then, he has often been tipped to leave Watford, with Leicester and Everton among his admirers.

Deal after deal fell through, but Deeney has never let it distract him from fulfilling his duty as a leader in the dressing-room.

One agent said he goes out of his way to welcome new signings.

He is brutally honest, too, telling teammates he is not afraid to speak his mind. Arsenal know all about that. It is almost a year since Deeney said the Gunners did not have the to compete after Watford came from 1-0 down to win 2-1.

After Sunday’s win, Deeney brought back memories of that infamous jibe by saying Tottenham “didn’t like it up ’em” in a postmatch interview.

The ballsy striker has always talked a big game off the pitch, but he is now playing one on it too. – Daily Mail