Last weekend’s win over a very limited Cardiff side provided a welcome three points after a tough few months, but the biggest boost going into Christmas has been the emergence of the effervescent Domingos Quina.

From his slight build and online catalogue of spectacular goals I expected the Portuguese to be another of the flighty attacking midfielders of no fixed position that the club is frankly overrun with at the moment.

But in his two tremendous appearances last week, Quina has shown himself to be a combative and dynamic anchor in the mould of N’golo Kante. Despite being only 19, Quina has a superb instinct for where the ball is going to fall and a veteran’s hunger to demand the ball as often as possible. In Etienne Capoue’s absence he has played the role of primary ball winner, and patrolled the midfield with guile and a cool head. He also scores very good goals.

What incredible fortune it is that West Ham decided to throw the chequebook at their problems in the summer and not look within their squad, and that Quina found himself in the training ground car park on transfer deadline day.

Just two-and-a-bit games into his Premier League career he is looking like a steal of Hatton Garden proportions at £1 million, and with one or both of Capoue and Abdoulaye Doucoure likely to depart next summer, he could be worth more than either by the time they leave. This is just the latest example of how Gino Pozzo, Scott Duxbury and the transfer bods at Watford are always on top of succession plans.

In the short term Quina’s emergence has added yet another selection dilemma for Watford to stay in credit with our embarrassment of midfield riches. Capoue, as the distant leader for Player of the Season so far, has to come back in now that his phantom suspension is over, but there are four other top class central midfielders that in any other season would be automatic first choices.

Quina, though perhaps too much in the mould of Capoue, is certainly the form player, with Doucoure miles away from his best form from last year, especially in possession. Tom Cleverley also made a welcome comeback from injury against Cardiff, and didn’t look like a player who had been out for the best part of a year. He has qualities that are a bit less common in this Watford side, though is perhaps competition more for Will Hughes than the central duo.

That leaves Nathaniel Chalobah, who most would have expected to have gained most from Capoue’s time on the sidelines. You have to feel for Chalobah. His injury came just as he was finally realising his potential and storming onto the national stage. Unlike Cleverley, he looks like someone who has missed a year of football, a bit timid and hesitant and uncertain in the pass.

Perhaps the most damaging thing for him is that his big opportunity came against Manchester City, a side that imposes intense mental pressure and provides a hostile environment for those finding their feet after injury. Now he has missed his chance to get a run of games in his legs and readjust to being on the pitch.

He’ll get another one soon enough, you reckon, with six games in the next month. It seems crazy now that this time last season we were struggling to find enough midfielders to fill the squad (Ben Watson started the first game of 2018), and yet now have a real problem about how to get our five top class players in.

It’s one of those things that is always called ‘a nice problem to have’, but Javi Gracia will still have to manage it carefully to make sure that each is kept happy and involved enough that they can hit the ground running when called upon.