Watford must now find a way to beat Manchester City or Arsenal according to Nigel Pearson, after failing to pick up a result against West Ham which could have all but secured Premier League survival.
The Head Coach was left frustrated that his team failed to carry out the game plan they had worked on in training and were left shell-shocked by two early goals which immediately gave them a mountain to climb.
“One of the things we will all do tonight, we will get home and think about it, and it will be annoying because we’ve missed an opportunity,” said Pearson.
“We haven’t done what we talked about doing, what we’ve worked at doing, and that is difficult. We have to get over it and make sure we bounce back.
“Whether that’s the pressure of the situation, who knows, but now we have to find good performances in the last two games to give us chances of winning those games.”
The Hornets improved after the break and pulled one back through Troy Deeney but were unable to capitalise on a period of pressure and eventually ran out of steam.
“There's not much point talking about taking the positives from the second half, even though they were, when we weren't in the game often enough before half-time,” said Pearson.
“It’s a poor result for us, a game which has passed us by somewhat in the first half. Performance wise, it’s not what I would expect from us.
“It’s not easy to deal with, I didn’t think we were resilient enough collectively. We had some spirited performances out there, but we were not what I would expect from us.”
The Head Coach was in no mood to publicly blame individuals for the manner in which the goals were conceded, insisting what's said in the dressing room will stay there.
“The players and staff, we’re in this together so I’m not going to be looking now to be overly critical, especially on an individual level. The players know themselves we’ve let an opportunity pass us by,” he said.
“Players don't deal with pressure in the same way, so I'll be looking to those who can handle the situation to go into Tuesday's game.
“I like to protect my players and keep things that I say internal and I'm not going to change that now.”
