Marco Silva has said Troy Deeney’s comments about intimidating Everton have been noted by his players and can serve as motivation for their visit to Watford on Saturday.

The Watford captain told a fans’ forum this week not to barrack Silva on his first appearance at Vicarage Road since being sacked in January. “It’ll only motivate them more,” Deeney said. “Leave him alone, let us kick the shit out of them.”

The striker also said: “The people at Everton are fantastic. Not the manager.” The Premier League is investigating an official complaint by Watford that Everton tapped up Silva before the slump that resulted in his dismissal.

Everton are experiencing a slump of their own under Silva, losing eight of the past 12 games in all competitions, and their manager believes Deeney’s words could help with a much-needed recovery.

Silva said: “I know some of the players already saw that. They are aware of it. Let’s see what we lose or not from the situation. You can use many, many things. Each club can have their own strategy; Watford chose this strategy during the week.

“We have our strategy and let’s see on the pitch what will be the best strategy. We are here to respect all the clubs, all our opponents, but first of all we have to respect ourselves. When they saw something like that, it is not good to listen to. I know they talked.”

Watford’s chief executive, Scott Duxbury, told the forum he would not acknowledge the club’s former manager on his return. Silva responded: “It is something I cannot control. You have to understand where the answers were given. They were with the fans and in some moments it is a strategy to prepare the next match. For me nothing changes. The game is not Watford v Marco Silva, it is Watford v Everton football club.

“We have to be strong as a team to take a good result for us. What were the last results of Everton playing there? I don’t see nothing easy in the last three seasons and if you look at the results you can see that.”