It was a frustrating afternoon for Watford's Under-23 side as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Cardiff City at Vicarage Road.

The young Hornets began with vigour and intensity, and Tiago Cukur had an early goal disallowed after tapping in from close range. Watford remained focused and composed, regularly overlapping in wide areas. James Morris delivered a ball to the front post, but Cukur was hustled away from the ball and the goalkeeper was able to clear.

In Cardiff’s first opening of the game, they scored through James Crole who was there to tap in at the back post from Isaac Jefferies’ pass. After a tight first half, it was the visitors who headed into the break a goal up. It meant that Under-23 Lead Coach Omer Riza made two changes at half-time to freshen up the side, bringing on Adrian Blake and Josh O’Brien.

Despite the substitutions, the Bluebirds doubled their lead after the break with Jack Leahy notching Cardiff City’s second. Cukur, Blake and others had one or two more opportunities, but the travelling team stood firm to secure the three points.

Riza was disappointed with the result and felt that his side were left to rue their missed chances in the first half.

“It was frustrating really,” said Riza. “We started the game really well. I thought we had some good chances and if we convert them, the game is slightly different and it puts them under a little bit of pressure. Then conceding the way we did, on a turnover, was difficult in the game.

“We went into half-time at 1-0 and wanted more of the same really, but we let in a goal quickly after. A mistake and a little bit of uncertainty, not being able to deal with the ball early, and then you are always chasing the game.

“In general, I was quite happy with the way the game went. We played some lovely stuff, I thought we built well and we created good chances, but you’ve got to keep the ball out of the back of the net.”

Having made a double change at the interval, Riza was particularly happy with the impact that Blake had on the team in the second period.

“With the changes [at half-time] some of the boys have had long injuries,” Riza continued. “Jack Broome has been out for a while and has been training, got back in and had a start. He was down to play 45 minutes and Jack Burchell has come back from an injury and he has been playing to try and get his fitness back up as well.

“The changes added a little bit more energy to the team because they got tired. We brought on Adrian Blake and he looked really sharp in the wide areas and linked up and looked dangerous.

“It meant that we could drop Dan Gosling to the number four position which meant he could get on the ball more and give us some more structure and discipline. Overall, like I said, I’m happy with the performance but not the result.”

It's a quick turnaround for the Under-23s who next face Charlton Athletic at the London Colney trianing ground on Tuesday (March 15), and Riza is looking forward to the opportunity of another game so soon after playing Cardiff.

“The boys will be preparing, and they will be going in tomorrow to prep,” he added. “They’ll be getting their stretches and getting their massages done and all those recovery things that we do now with the players.

“Then they will have Sunday off and back in on Monday ready for the next game. We are prepping well, the squad is ready and we will just carry on.”