MICAH Hyde is warning Burnley to beware the Hornets sting tomorrow.

If anyone at Turf Moor feels qualified to comment on the upheaval that has rocked Watford recently then it's Hyde, who spent seven seasons at Vicarage Road before venturing north for the first time in his career last summer when Steve Cotterill came calling.

And the Clarets midfielder knows there could be no worst time to face his old club than with a similarly young, ambitious manager ready to cut his teeth in the profession.

Hyde said: "I've never heard of the new manager, Adrian Boothroyd, but he will want to start off well so I think it's a bad time to play Watford.

"Losing a manager always means players want to impress the new man and keep their place in the team, so that makes things tougher."

Hyde admits he was stunned when, during Burnley's recent sunshine break, he learned that Ray Lewington, whose two-and-a-half year reign at Watford was

dogged by serious financial shortcomings, had been sacked.

Lewington was the third manager Hyde worked under at Vicarage Road, following four years with Graham Taylor, who famously steered the club into the Premiership in 1999-2000.

Former Chelsea boss Gianluca Vialli then had an ill-fated spell in charge in 2001 before Lewington replaced the Italian 12 months later.

Hyde added: "I really wish Ray all the best because I was with him for a couple of seasons.

"I was surprised Watford parted company with him, but that seems to be the trend in football nowadays.

"Impatient people run clubs and I just think Ray has done miraculously well in the past couple of seasons to cut the wage bill and yet still being players into the club."

Sentiment still plays a part though and Hyde is keen to wish current incumbent Boothroyd every success in the job. After tomorrow!

He said: "They have decided to appoint a young manager and I wish Adrian all the best too - after they play us!

"I'm really looking forward to playing Watford again because I know most of the players and it was a good memory of mine going back to Vicarage Road earlier this season.

"It was a good away win for us and I got a good reception from the Watford fans after playing there for a long time.

"Obviously the club is deep in my heart, but now I'm concentrating on Burnley and hopefully we can get our game together and if we play to our own strengths hopefully that should see us through."

Burnley's batteries should be fully charged tomorrow following their long-overdue break from competitive action.

The Clarets spent the first seven days of their spring break putting their feet up and enjoying some light training in the Mediterranean sunshine.

This week, it's been back to hard work on the training ground ahead of the testing run-in, which sees Cotterill's side face five of their last eight opponents at Turf Moor.

Hyde, 30, said: "A week away was just perfect and I think it's done everyone the power of good.

"We only trained a couple of times and had a jog along the beach, but mostly the emphasis was on relaxing.

"We came back this week and the lads have looked bright and sharp and like we want to be back on the training ground ready to play some football.

"

"The break was great. We trained a little and managed to put our feet up for a deserved rest and a little bit of sun.

"Ideally it would have come sooner, but we've been successful enough to be involved in so many games this season and we were grateful for any break we

could get.

"Even Gawthorpe looked a lot better than before we left, so I think the ground staff appreciated the break too!"