Roy Hodgson felt Watford deserved at least a point for their “effort, commitment, work-rate and desire” in a narrow 2-1 defeat to Brentford, which saw the Bees score a 95th-minute winner.
Brentford claimed all three points thanks to set-piece goals from Christian Nørgaard and Pontus Jansson, either side of Emmanuel Dennis’ equalising strike.
The second-half display from the Hornets pleased Hodgson, but equally left him frustrated at the performance in the first 45 where Watford conceded 15 minutes into the game.
“Unfortunately you prepare the game and dream of the performance and visualise the performance but it’s not what you get,” said Hodgson.
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“We needed every player from the first minute to be at the top of their game and that was by no means the case, but we did remedy in the second half some aspects of our performance and gave ourselves a chance. We equalised and could even have got that winner. It would have been nice to have done it from the first minute because then maybe we wouldn’t have been behind at half-time.
“We conceded a very poor goal and that was very disappointing considering how much we built up the game in the week with the players and how much we believed that they recognised that this game needed to be built up, because it was one of the last chance games we’re going to have.
“I thought in the second half we did more than well enough, we got ourselves back in and looked like we were going to be good value for a 1-1, so to lose it to a free-kick in the 95th minute was a harsh judgement on the team, especially after the crowd had been so good and got behind us so well.”
Hodgson also rued the chance missed just before the visitors’ winning goal, but understands Watford’s downfall against the Bees isn’t solely based on misfortune.
“We haven’t been lucky but that doesn’t alter the fact that we haven’t been good enough either so I’m not making excuses,” Hodgson continued.
“I didn’t think we should be contemplating another home defeat because I didn’t think the performance deserved that. The second-half performance was probably the best we have offered the home fans, which doesn’t say much but that’s my judgement.
“To do what the players did for the club in the second half after not starting the game near the level we were hoping for, I thought the way they approached the second half and the performance they gave against a team that is comfortable and in good form, I can’t complain too bitterly about anything that happened there. That’s why the 95th-minute goal which has cost us yet another home defeat, was hard to take.”
Dennis’ equaliser lifted the supporters inside Vicarage Road, with the Watford faithful in full backing of the team until the end of the game. Hodgson praised the noise inside the stadium, particularly in the second half, but wished the Hornets had claimed the points to show for an improved performance.
“I thought the crowd were very good today,” Hodgson said. “We didn’t give them anything to excite them in the first half but we did in the second half. I think they saw the effort, commitment, work-rate and desire to score was there, so when we did it and continued to push on I thought the fans were 100 per cent behind us.
“It’s the way you lose it, after coming so close to winning it, in the last action of the game, that’s hard to take.”
