By Chris Bevan

All the boys set targets for ourselves and we want to qualify for Europe - that is our aim and everyone at the club is going for that Ashley Young

Life just keeps getting better and better for Watford striker Ashley Young.

The 21-year-old, who scored 15 goals to help the Hornets win promotion to the Premiership last season, became a father for the first time on Thursday.

And with newly-born son Tyler doing well, Young can switch his attention back to the prospect of making his top-flight debut against Everton on 19 August.

He told BBC Sport: "I can't wait for the season to kick off.

"It is what we worked for all last year and I just want to get things started now.

"It is so exciting - there are so many big clubs and big stadiums we are going to play at. Every game will be big - but we will go into them thinking we can get three points wherever we go."

Watford boss Aidy Boothroyd has earned a reputation for motivating his players - and it is clear that installing confidence in his team is one of his fortes.

"The gaffer has given us the belief we can do well in the Premiership," Young said.

"All the boys set targets for ourselves and we want to qualify for Europe - that is our aim and everyone at the club is going for that.

"There is no way we are going into the season thinking we will just play one season and go straight back down.

"We are not going to settle for second best - we are going to go to every ground thinking we can win. If we do that we have every chance of reaching our target."

WATFORD'S SUMMER SIGNINGS Danny Shittu (QPR, �1.6m), Damien Francis (Wigan, �1.5m), Scott Loach (Lincoln, undisclosed), Tamas Priskin (Gyori ETO, undisclosed), Chris Powell (Charlton), Claude Seanla (Tottenham), Ben Foster (Man Utd, loan)

After Watford's play-off final win over Leeds in May, Boothroyd strengthened his squad for the coming months with eight new summer signings including Wigan's Damian Francis and QPR's Danny Shittu.

Many pundits have still predicted they will make a swift return to the Championship - but it does not bother Young in the slightest.

"Last season everyone put us down and said we were relegation favourites and it is the same again this time," he explained.

"We are happy for people to say what they like - we just want to show them what we are about. Pre-season has gone well for us and we just want to keep going.

"The new players have come in and it is like they have been here all the time. With the squad we have, everyone just settles in straight away.

"There is a great team spirit that we have had since the gaffer came in and the lads have just blended in - they are part of the picture already.

"Everyone here is working hard to get in the team because they like what the gaffer is doing. He believes in us and we respond to him.

"We all want to play underneath him and be in his starting XI."

Young (l) celebrates Watford's play-off final win with Marlon King

Young points at the performance of West Ham and Wigan last season to show his side's hopes of a Uefa Cup place are not just a pipe dream.

The pair finished 9th and 10th in the Premiership and reached the finals of the FA Cup and Carling Cup respectively.

"You see what they did and it shows what can happen," Young said. "It shows you that teams going up from the Championship to the Premiership can actually do it.

"We will go up there with the self-belief we built up on the back of our promotion last season - and on top of that we think we will do really well this time too."

Young underwent a Thierry Henry-style transformation under Boothroyd's tutelage - turning from a winger who flitted in and out of favour to one of the Championship's deadliest marksmen.

His personal ambition for the coming months is to show he is good enough to make the step up in class.

"I want to prove myself in the Premiership now," Young stated.

"It's where every player wants to play. It's one of the best leagues in the world and I think I can play at this level - now I need to show it.