Watford defender Mat Sadler believes the club's opening league fixture against Crystal Palace will be good indicator to their prospects for the new season.

The left-back joined the club from Birmingham in January for £750,000 and went onto make 18 appearances as Watford reached the play-offs only to be knocked out by Hull in the semi-finals.

And Sadler believes the match-up with Crystal Palace, who also lost in the play-off semi-finals, will reveal where the clubs stand.

"It's a tough start at Palace, I've looked at the fixtures and they're all tough games in their own right," he told the club's official website.

"This year it will be interesting to see how the league pans out - it was a bit topsy-turvy last year in that teams could beat everyone and I would imagine it will be like that again.

"But there are hard games throughout - it's a difficult place to go but the opening day will be a good indicator for the season."