Vitor Matos | The challenge is to turn improved away performances into points

Vitor Matos is confident his Swansea City team can start turning their improved performances on the road into results as they get set to face Watford at Vicarage Road this afternoon (3pm).

The Swans have made clear strides under the stewardship of their Portuguese head coach but, while results at home have been excellent, points have been harder to come by away from SA1.

Positive showings at Coventry City, Stoke City and Hull City have seen Swansea arguably unfortunate to come away with nothing to show for their efforts.

They now face a play-off chasing Watford side, who have been among the most effective attacking units in open play in the Championship, at Vicarage Road, with Matos and his players keen to take that important step and turn a positive showing into points.

“Watford are a good team. They have really good players, decisive players, who are really effective in the last third,” he said.

“They have scored 24 goals in open play, which says a lot about them. It shows it’s a game that we need to be 100 per cent focused with 100 per cent concentration on the little details which will make a difference ,and that's what we expect from ourselves.

“It is all about performance, it’s not about being home or away. It's about which kind of problems come up in the game and how we can handle those kind of problems. 

“Of course, emotionally it's different because if you are at home you are in your stadium with your fans, but that doesn't change what the game is. 

“What is important is that we understand what we need to improve and that we keep pushing ourselves to make those steps. 

“It's good to see that the team is competing with the top teams of the league like it was against Coventry, like it was in the game against Stoke City as well, and I think that's quite a good message. 

“It's now about being effective in creating points out of these away games.”