Watford interim manager Tom Cleverley thinks there is a bright future for the club after the Hornets secured a 1-0 victory over Birmingham.

Cleverley was announced as interim boss after the sacking of Valerien Ismael and got off to a winning start thanks to Emmanuel Dennis’ 44th-minute goal.

Dennis pounced on a mistake from the hosts to fire the ball past goalkeeper John Ruddy for what ultimately proved the match-winner at St Andrew’s.

Cleverley said the victory was what he dreamt of in the build-up to the game but praised Birmingham for their performance.

“It’s exactly what the doctor ordered and it’s what I dreamt of last night,” Cleverley said.

“It wasn’t as perfect as it sounds, and we will address some of the problems we faced but I think if the players play with that much desire and heart to stop the ball going in our goal, and we know the quality our team possesses, there’s a bright future in us.

“I came to their game Tuesday and saw them in quite a flat way but today I thought they were excellent, so credit to us for winning the game.”

Cleverley praised his back four in being an integral part of claiming the three points and striker Dennis for scoring the winning goal.

“I can’t praise the back four enough, two academy products, and (Ryan) Porteous was the old head of the four and Dan (Bachmann) was called on a few times, a few more than I like and that’s my job to organise that better,” Cleverley added.

“The main thing today was the result and that back four deserves a big pat on the back.

“We know that (Emmanuel) Dennis has that explosive burst so as a defender you may think you are comfortable on the ball but then he appears from nowhere.

“We spoke to the players, we thought we’d create chances through high regains today and we didn’t win as many balls as we liked but the one that mattered went in.”

Birmingham assistant manager Mark Venus said he could not fault the effort of his players.

“I can’t protect the players for Tuesday, but I can protect them today, I thought they gave everything on the pitch,” Venus said.

“We talk about missing a little bit of quality, that was evident again today, but as far as energy, intensity, desire, purpose and team spirit, that was all there today.”

Venus says his players need be more ruthless in front of goal as they failed to score for a third successive league match.

“We have to finish better, let’s see it as it is, we have to finish better and we have to put the ball in the net,” Venus added.

“We have to raise our quality, we have to do better all those things, all the other things were all there today.”

Riley McGree returned to haunt his old loan club Birmingham with a stunning goal as Middlesbrough won 1-0 at St. Andrew’s.

Attacking midfielder McGree, 25, put Boro ahead in the 17th minute after a mistake by Alex Pritchard in a game of few clear-cut chances.

The result heaps pressure on City, who have now gone five games without a win and are only out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone by a point after their match in hand.

City have not won since manager Tony Mowbray – a much-loved former Middlesbrough player and manager – has been away from his daily duties for medical treatment.

Both sets of fans chanted his name but Birmingham looked in need of the 60-year-old’s guidance as Boro made it three wins in a row.

Birmingham had the first chance when Pritchard attempted a 40-yard chip over goalkeeper Seny Dieng but his ambitious effort drifted wide.

Paddy McNair fired over a long-range rising effort for Middlesbrough after Emmanuel Latte Lath was denied from point-blank range by goalkeeper John Ruddy.

But a mistake by Pritchard led to Boro taking a 17th-minute lead.

The former Brentford and Sunderland midfielder’s pass was easily cut out by Luke Ayling. He found McGree, who lashed an unstoppable left-foot drive into the top corner of the net from 25 yards.

McGree, who spent 15 months on loan at Blues from October 2020 to the end of 2021, celebrated in understated fashion against his old club.

Things went from bad to worse for City two minutes later when centre-back Marc Roberts went off injured to be replaced by Cody Drameh.

Ayling tried to make it 2-0 after cutting inside and curling goalwards but his attempt was straight at Ruddy.

Pritchard sliced horribly wide on the angle as neither he nor Koji Miyoshi seemed to want to take responsibility to shoot.

If Birmingham’s struggles were not summed up by that lack of confidence, they were underlined when no one challenged Latte Lath from Lukas Engel’s throw-in and the striker fired just wide.

Matt Clarke sent a bullet header wide from a corner as the visitors continued to look the more dangerous side.

Birmingham replaced the out-of-sorts Miyoshi with Juninho Bacuna at half-time but they continued to look unconvincing.

There was a four-minute stoppage before the hour mark after referee Andy Davies went off injured, with fourth official Jeremy Simpson taking over the whistle.

The lively Latte Lath only just failed to get enough contact on an up-and-under, with the sliced effort flying over.

Goalkeepers John Ruddy and Asmir Begovic were the stars as Birmingham and QPR battled to a 0-0 Championship draw at St Andrew’s.

Begovic, the former Chelsea, Bournemouth and Stoke goalkeeper, and ex-Wolves keeper Ruddy, both 36, produced a string of saves as the hosts missed the chance to climb into the top six overnight.

QPR created the first chance when Ilias Chair crossed from the left and Sinclair Armstrong looped a header over the bar.

Only a desperate, acrobatic goal-line clearance from QPR midfielder Sam Field prevented Blues taking a 21st-minute lead.

Lee Buchanan’s fierce cross flicked off centre-back Steve Cook and looped over Begovic, but Field hooked the ball away, replays showing it was half over the line.

For all Birmingham’s attacking intent, QPR forced the first save of the game when Paul Smyth cut in on his left foot and his shot from just inside the box was pushed away by Ruddy.

Blues responded soon after when right-back Cody Drameh’s cross-shot was shovelled away at the near post by Begovic.

The home side continued to push for the opening goal and had three efforts blocked in the box, Jay Stansfield trying his luck with a header and then a shot either side of an effort from Miyoshi.

They then went close to taking the lead within two minutes of the restart.

This time Krystian Bielik produced a snapshot that was kept out by a stunning one-handed save by Begovic at full stretch.

Rangers went just as close to breaking the deadlock from the next move.

Chair gave himself room to cross on the run after a one-two split the defence and he pulled the ball back to Field, whose side-footed effort was palmed away by Ruddy and hit Armstrong before bouncing just wide.

Scott Hogan then missed a golden chance. The Birmingham striker had only Begovic to beat after Miyoshi put him through but sidefooted too close to the keeper.

Stansfield forced another save from Begovic when he cut inside and fired goalward from just inside the box.

But Ruddy produced arguably the save of the match when he tipped away Lyndon Dykes’ downward header from Albert Adomah’s cross as both sides had to settle for a point.