Nigel Pearson has described Watford’s recent run of form as a “dose of realism” as he prepares for a difficult game with Liverpool this weekend.

The head coach got off to a flying start after he arrived in December, collecting 14 points from his first seven league matches, but his side are currently winless in their last five games and have managed just two shots on target in each.

Speaking ahead of the visit of the as-of-yet-unbeaten league leaders, Pearson agreed that the so called ‘new manager bounce’ had worn off and that now was time for his players to step up their performances.

“It’s been a dose of realism. I’ve known right from day one, it’s not going to be straight forward,” he said.

“I suppose in some ways just an element of change can be good.

“The players continue to work very very hard and we’ve had an extraordinary run of games to get us back into contention and we’re still very much in contention, so my own view on it would be that I understand and I realise that we need to start winning games again, sooner rather than later, to continue with the progression.

“But we’re very much in with a fighting chance of retaining our Premier League status and that’s what its all about. We’ve got to make sure our own performances are as good as we know we can be.”

Reflecting on last week’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester United, Pearson said that he was disappointed with the way his side played in a game that he felt was there for the taking, and that this weekend presents Watford with a chance to put things right.

However, he knows his team will have to be much better than they have been recently, as they come face-to-face with a side who have won all but one game so far this season.

“Last week we were disappointed with ourselves,” he said.

“In a game which was not exactly full of quality, we were pretty comfortable and probably were guilty of making mistakes that we’ve not really made in other games. That’s a lesson for us and we go into this weekend’s game with an opportunity to put that right.

“I think first and foremost, our approach this week is to try and get our own performance and our own application during the game as close to our maximum as possible.”

Pearson has already come up against Liverpool during his time in charge of the Hornets, when he was beaten 2-0 away at Anfield in his first game in charge.

In that game, Watford showed large signs of improvement, but still ended up on the losing end and Pearson admitted that, in order for his side to pick up points, he probably also needs Jurgen Klopp’s men to have an off day.

“It was a really tough game - I think our own level of performance was good, but their quality shone through and won them the game with an excellent first goal,” Pearson said of the away game.

“We had our opportunities on the day and didn’t take them. We’ve just got to try and make sure that we play as close to our maximum as we can and if we do that, we can cause anybody problems. Then it’s about whether key moments in the game go your way or not. I think it’s fair to say they’re an outstanding side and to have won the amount of games they’ve won this season is really incredible. It’s going to be, however they play, a very difficult game.

“My only concern really at the moment is to make sure we play as well as we can play. We’ll need them to not be quite at their best I’m sure.”