Interview by Alex Howard

What are your thoughts on Watford’s promotion challenge?

It doesn’t look as though we’re going to get automatic promotion so what’s important now is that we refocus as automatic promotion had been our focus throughout the season.

First and foremost we have to ensure we make the play-offs and then go into them with as much energy as possible.

What we have in our favour is our experience of getting promoted through the play-offs two seasons ago. We’ve been in this situation before and that experience is definitely something that can help. We can go a long way if we channel that experience in the right way and I’m confident it’s something we’ll tap into.

If we go into the play-offs disappointed that we missed out on automatic promotion then we’ll be in for a rude awakening and we’ll struggle to make it past the first hurdle. But we’ve shown in the past that we have the team-spirit and attitude to achieve what we want and I’m confident we won’t fall short in that respect.

What have you made of the team’s form?

This season the Championship has been a league where everyone has been beating everyone else regardless of whether you’re a team at the top or the bottom. At the start of the campaign we were the one team who rose above that but we’ve been dragged back into it and even though we had opportunities to get back out in front of the pack, we didn’t take them and now we have to suffer the consequences.

How has the team readjusted to the Championship?

We’ve managed to do better than other teams who were relegated from the Premier League last season - Charlton and Sheffield United - and I think much of that is down to the fact that most of the team played in Championship two years ago. We’ve not been surprised by what we’ve come up against and that’s helped to carry us through and give us a relatively successful season.

From a personal point of view, I’ve had to refocus myself as I haven’t played as much this year as I would have liked. I have my own thoughts on not being picked and obviously it’s something I’m disappointed about. But I’m OK with it and appreciate the bigger picture. I was made club captain in January and I’m putting everything I can into my role as a leader and doing whatever I can for the team in that respect. If and when I’m called upon, I’ll be ready.

The USA had a great 3-0 win over Poland in March, what are your thoughts on how the team is progressing?

Poland was a great game and a great result for us. It’s also a really good springboard for our game against England at Wembley on May 28 which will be a fantastic event. England lost their last game against France so they’ll be particularly up for this one but if we get a result it would be absolutely fantastic for American soccer.

We’ve got a busy summer with games against Spain and Argentina as well as England and those games will be a massive help in building us up as a team. In the past we used to play only three or four games a year but our manager Bob Bradley has done really well in scheduling a greater number of games for us against the best opponents we could play.

That’s dragged us out of the comfort zone we’ve perhaps been in in the past. We’re now in a situation where we’re testing ourselves against the best and we’re rising to the challenges. We’ve progressed to a point where if we’re not beating these opponents then at the least, we’re competing with them.

Going through this sort of programme will really help us from a psychological point of view when we play in the Federations Cup and the World Cup. If you haven’t played the sides you’ll meet in those competitions in the past then you can be daunted by them but if you’ve done well against them then that should ensure you go into the match with confidence and belief.

What are your ambitions with the national team?

I’d love to nail down a stating place but this is my first year in the camp and my initial aim is to integrate myself within the set-up. If I do that, I’ll then be looking and a starting place and then the next goal will be to be a major part of the team. At the moment, I’m just really enjoying the experience and the opportunity to improve but it would be fantastic if I’m a starter in two years’ time.

What has Bob Bradley said to you?

It’s very encouraging that Bob has kept calling me into the set-up and he’s given me a lot of confidence. I was delighted to get 30 minutes against Poland.

You started your career in England playing for Non-League outfit Northwood. Do you ever pinch yourself over how far you’ve come since then?

If I take a step back and look at it, it really has been a fantastic rise but I can’t forget where I came from. I have to keep setting goals to continually improve as if I’m not progressing, what’s the point? My main focus is to look forward rather than back as that’s what got me to where I am now.

Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd has taken to calling you ‘Rocky’. What do you make of the nickname?

The manager gave me the nickname because he thinks it sums up my rise in one word and I suppose it is a fairly similar story to Rocky Balboa. I’m happy enough with it and it’s the type of nickname you tend to get when you’re part of a football team.