Quique Sanchez Flores has praised Etienne Capoue's maturity after the stand-in Watford captain's impressive performance against Arsenal on Sunday.

The midfielder played under Sanchez Flores during his last spell at Vicarage Road and the head coach said he has returned to find a more mature player.

"He's really mature now," said the head coach.

"Three years ago he was an amazing player, a very good player and very important for us. Three years later, he's the captain right now, also he's more mature, he's able to take and to organise some of the players - for us he's a very important player."

Capoue played his part in a team that created 31 shooting opportunities during the game, despite the fact attacking was not Sanchez Flores' main focus.

The returning boss said it was a good sign that his side is improving in all areas.

"We wanted to take care of defence before the match," he said.

"Sometimes you want to take care about the defence and finally you defend with the ball. You never know how the match is going. We didn't prepare to have 31 attempts, it just happened because the players played really well.

"They were really keen in the second-half with the ball, they switched the ball really well, played easy. These are very important things for the future."