Watford should follow the example of the likes of West Brom and Crystal Palace and "spend smart" to be a success in the Premier League, according to the club's former midfielder Micah Hyde.
Slavisa Jokanovic's side confirmed their promotion from the Championship with a 2-0 victory at Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.
Watford have finished bottom of the table in each of their two previous Premier League campaigns, in the 1999-2000 and 2006-07 seasons.
Yet Hyde, part of the last Watford team to be promoted to the top tier of English football, is sure his old club can enjoy success providing they are sensible in the transfer market.
"I'm not sure about them needing to spend big, I think it's more a case of spend smart," Hyde told Perform.
"I'm not sure spending big is the right way. I think they have to try and mirror what Palace are doing, or someone like West Brom.
"I'd rather they spend wisely than spend big. If you do go down you want to have a squad that is ready to go back up."
Jokanovic was appointed as Watford's fourth boss of the campaign in October, after Giuseppe Sannino, Oscar Garcia and Billy McKinlay all had stints in the hotseat.
Despite the instability at Vicarage Road, the Serbian galvanised the team and Hyde described the job done by Jokanovic as "remarkable".
"There was a bit of chopping and changing and as a Watford fan I wasn't happy to see that," he added.
"But he's come in and steadied the ship and done really well. Remarkable is probably the word that comes to mind."
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