True friends are those who stick by you when the chips are down.
Back in 2012, Hornets captain Troy Deeney served three months for affray.
Three years on and he is an in-form Premier League goalscorer who will lead his side out against the 20-time league champions.
Ahead of the Saturday afternoon clash, Deeney was asked if, back in prison, he believed he could ever envision a future that involved tussles with the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Juan Mata.
He told The Mirror, “I would have said, ‘I know I will!’ That is honestly what I would have said.
“I’ve got people coming down from there, two of my cellmates and their families, for the game. Friends.”
The 27-year-old continued, “I told them it would all come true. They were people that helped me get through and helped me get motivated when I didn’t really want to.
“I knew what I was going to do from that moment.
“I couldn’t say whether this team or that team was going to buy me or this team is going to keep me, but I knew what I was going to do from that moment.”
