YOUNG striker Will Buckley was forced to see out a frustrating first team debut at the Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday afternoon for the Hornets, after coming on as a substitute in the second half of the encounter.

"I came on with words from Malky to try and change the game, but the one goal we got was never gong to be enough.

"Cardiff are a good side, but I think we could have beaten them had we played at our best.

"It was a bad day at the office today."

But Buckley echoed the confidence of his manager, as the Golden Boys demonstrated some positive play in the first 45 minutes of the match in Wales.

He said; "We had a few chances in the first half and had we got those, it could've been a different story - they took their chances and we didn't at the end of the day.

Will Buckley makes his debut for the first team on Sunday at Cardiff

"We're not miles apart in terms of who's the better team; we know that if we put our chances away in games we will climb up the league.

"They might not be clear-cut chances all the time, but we have got strikers who can finish and anyone can see that, so I'm sure the goals will come."

After scoring for the reserves last week in their convincing 2-0 win over Ipswich, Buckley came onto the pitch at Cardiff off the back of a successful 90 minutes in a yellow shirt.

And with an ever-hectic schedule as the season starts to draw to a close, the former Rochdale man emphasised the importance of having some fresh legs in the first team.

"It's hard because you have to make sure you rest up and recover but also work hard on the training pitch on not conceding goals.

"Players will be getting tired at this point in the season; most of them will have started around 30 games already.

"I've been there and done it with Rochdale" continued the experienced youngster.

"Your legs get heavy, so you need substitutes to be able to come on and add something.

"We've got to be prepared to come on and make a difference.

"There's no use being on the subs bench and just coming on and doing the same as the player who came off.

"You've got to do your best with high energy and try to change the game."

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