Watford's season ended in disappointment for the entire squad. But no-one will have felt worse than skipper John Eustace when the shrill of the final whistle at Hull's KC Stadium ruined Watford's Premiership dreams.
It looked as though the 29-year-old would not even feature in the game following his red card in the first leg, but the FA overturned the dismissal, meaning he led his side out for the demoralising defeat, despite carrying a hamstring injury from t
he previous game.
Watford's captain fantastic has still not recovered from the pain of losing that game to Hull. But as he prepares to fly to a pre-season training camp with his teammates, Eustace maintains his disappointment will only serve to make him stronger for next season.
"It was a long season and we all needed a break," he said. "But it gets to the point where you can do too much relaxing, now I can't wait to get back into training."
"I'm looking forward to coming back and seeing all the lads and then going to Austria on Thursday. I've been there a few times with Stoke and it's a really lovely area. It should be an ideal bonding time with a lot of hard work taking place.
"But the only way we'll get last season out of our system is to win games. The fact of the matter is we lost our last game 4-1 and we need to recover from that. The only way to do that is to hit the ground running."
Instead of hanging around to watch his side's conquerors go on to win promotion to the Premiership, Eustace has used the post-season break wisely, working on recovering in time for the start of the coming campaign.
"I tore my thigh muscle in the home semi final against Hull, so I was playing in the away leg with a poorly thigh. For me, the end of the season couldn't have come at a better time as I needed the rest."I've been to see Andy Rolls (the club physio) a few times for some treatment and now I'm fully recovered."
Watford play their first pre-season fixture against Borehamwood on July 22, with their Championship season kicking off against Crystal Palace on August 9.
But Aidy Boothroyd has yet to make any additions to an already depleted squad— Nathan Ellington and Jordan Stewart having already left for pastures new.
There are, however, amongst a host of clubs being linked with veteran left-back Ian Harte.
The 30-year-old is available on a free transfer after being released by Sunderland at the end of last season, with Watford, Swansea City and League One side Leicester City touted as potential suitors.
The ex-Leeds man made just eight Premier League appearances for the Black Cats after moving to the Stadium of Light last summer from Levante .
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