Monday 15 December 2014 13:45, UK
Watford manager Slavisa Jokanovic admitted his team had endured a "difficult day" after they toiled for a 2-1 home win over former lowly Wigan.
Troy Deeney gave the Hornets a 20th-minute lead, during the home side's best spell of the Sky Bet Championship match, but Wigan, managed by former Hornets boss Malky Mackay, came back into it towards the end of the first half and equalised through Chris McCann.
Wigan initially posed the greater questions after the break, but it was Watford who sealed the win when Deeney headed home from an Ikechi Anya cross with eight minutes remaining for his fifth goal in two games.
Jokanovic said: "Today was a difficult day for us. If we don't play a brilliant game, it is important for us to win this kind of game. I understand many people expect if we can repeat something similar to what we did in the last game against Fulham (winning 5-0), but there is always another team in front of you.
"Wigan played a good game today. They didn't create many chances but they were a little bit more fresh, a little bit stronger and a little bit faster than us in many moments in the game.
"I have to be happy to win this game and especially to win this kind of game. It is important for us when we don't have a brilliant game to win points."
Asked about Deeney, Jokanovic said: "Troy has scored nine goals and must score 15 more to make the same number of goals he scored last season. He can make more goals but Troy is important for us, especially in the offensive line. He did a very good job today but he helped us so much in the last 15 minutes."
Mackay, whose team have taken just one point from his first four games at the helm, was inevitably disappointed with the outcome at Vicarage Road.
He said: "I was happy with the way we started, we settled into the game really well. Then we lost a sloppy goal and I think Watford took the momentum back for maybe 10 to 15 minutes.
"But in the last 15 minutes of the first half, I thought we took it back again and were pretty dominant and the goal just before half-time was worthy and 1-1 at half-time was probably the right result.
"In the second half I was really happy with the way we played and at 70 minutes I probably wasn't happy with a point because I thought we had put them on the back foot and had caused enough problems to be around about their goals.
"So to lose a sloppy goal, like we did in the second half, is disappointing but I can't be too hard on them because of the overall way they played today."
