Watford head coach Walter Mazzarri once again refuted the notion he is fighting to save his job after they lost for the sixth time in eight games at Stoke.
On the night Mike Phelan was axed by Hull, the favourite to be the next man sacked among his Premier League peers witnessed his team beaten 2-0 at the bet365 Stadium thanks to goals from Ryan Shawcross and Peter Crouch.
The Hornets slid down the table around this time last season under Quique Sanchez-Flores and fears of a repeat have increased the pressure on ex-Napoli and Inter Milan boss Mazzarri at a club where managers' shelf-life has been typically short under the Pozzo family.
Mazzarri had stated after Sunday's 4-1 loss to Tottenham that he did not fear his reign being ended in a similar fashion to his predecessors, and here he pointed to the fact he believes the Hornets, who have been ravaged by injuries, are for once looking at a long-term project with him at the helm.
"I don't feel under pressure because I speak with the owner every day," said the Italian.
"We know what our objective is and we're not only looking at the next five or six matches, we are looking at the next three years.
"When you look at all the injuries we have, it is difficult to get results in the Premier League. Now we have to take this occasion to look and work for the future.
"The important thing is to keep fighting for the next games. I liked the way our fans behaved because they understood the moment we're in and they supported us until the end and this is very important for us.
"There were only two incidents for them that changed the result because they managed to score both. We were not lucky."
