Marco Silva issued a damning assessment of his Watford players after their sluggish first-half performance opened the door for Stoke City to steal a 1-0 win at Vicarage Road.

The Hornets' players had moved the ball too slowly and been laborious in possession before a half-time rollocking spurred a reaction after the break - but they still did not manage to test Jack Butland in the Stoke goal over a frustrating 90 minutes.

The head coach had made his players aware that the Potters, smarting after conceding nine in their past two games, would come to put men behind the ball, but they had no answer to that attritional style before the interval.

He said: "We knew before they would come and play behind the ball and what they did is clear.

"We had to play faster, do something different and have more intensity and not make mistakes like we did in the first half.

"In the second half it was more our image as a team, with more pace and intensity but it’s really difficult with 10 players behind the ball.

"We created two or three chances, and if you can score a goal everything is different but we missed those chances."