Watford's baby steps progress just enough to unseat high-riding Sunderland

Watford (1) 2 Ebosele 28, Dele-Bashiru pen 84

Sunderland (0) 1 Isidor 59

The really good news for Hornets fans is that Tom Cleverley's team are not as bad as they were for much of last season.

The more sobering news is that the Watford boss admits himself he is still pretty much tinkering with his squad at the moment as he seeks a reliable formula that will deliver consistent results of the positive kind.

Today's win against a Sunderland side - who would have gone to the top of the Championship table with a draw - was not as earth-shattering as it might seem. The visitors had a lot of the play and were unlucky to head back north empty handed - but it was a hugely encouraging staging post for the Hornets nonetheless..

It has been a pretty decent start to the new campaign for Hertfordshire's finest - especially on their home patch. They built on that opening day win at Millwall with good home wins over Stoke and Derby and posted a couple of League Cup wins to boot.

They returned from the Etihad in midweek with heads held high after only slipping to a narrow defeat to Pep Guardiola's men - having been outrageously denied what looked to be a perfectly good goal in the process.

They are looking in fairly decent shape ahead of the fixture that looms brightest on the horizon - that trip to Kenilworth Road to play 'upstart rivals' Luton on October 19.

But the phrase 'work in progress' seems apt. "It's still early days as far as the season is concerned," Cleverley said in his programme notes. "We'll have played nine games by the time the next international break comes, so that'll be a good time to further assess our start to the season."

Sunderland are loving life near the summit, having won five of their opening six Championship fixtures. Regis Le Bris is not a household name but the French boss is aiming to become one and the Wearsiders are currently thriving under his leadership.

The Hornets took a moment to size up Sunderland and grabbed a lead just before the half-hour mark when Festy Ebosele met a deep cross from the left from Yasser Larouci with a sweet left-foot volley that left keeper Anthony Patterson rooted to the spot.

Wilson Isidor went close a couple of times for the visitors and Jobe Bellingham - the one with the famous brother - missed with a close-range header. It was a warning.

On the break, Moussa Sissoko squared for Vakoun Bayo but the slightly delayed cross allowed the Black Cats to get back and block and the failure to double the lead was punished early in the second half when Patrick Roberts - lively throughout the first half - burst into space down the right and drilled a low cross that Isidor turned in at the near post.

For a spell, the visitors had a spring in their step and looked the likelier winner, with some good combinations threatening more goals. But sub Kwado Baah came on and skipped into the danger zone before being upended by Sunderland skipper Dan Neil. Tom Dele-Bashiru made no mistake, finding the corner from the spot from a short run-up.

It was one of the few times Watford looked menacing in the final third during the second half. But it turned out it was enough.

Hornets: (3-4-2-1) Bond - Morris, Ogbonna, Pollock - Ebosele (Porteous 57), Dele-Bashiru, Sissoko, Larouci (Sema 57) - Kayembe (Ince 57), Chakvetadze (Baah 75) - Bayo (Jebbison 69)

Mackems: (4-3-3) Patterson - Hume, Mepham, O'Nien, Cirkin - Rigg, Neil, Bellingham - Roberts (Poveda 74), Isidor (Rusyn 74), Mundle (Watson 85)

Attendance: 20,335