The most concerning aspect of Huddersfield’s stoppage-time winner against Watford on Saturday was perhaps the inevitability of its arrival.

Watford have read from a script demanding late concessions all too often this term and are, once again, following a broader narrative which has defined the tail end of their campaigns in recent years – reach a point of relative safety, foot off the gas, coast until the season’s conclusion.

Each of the Vicarage Road club’s three campaigns since returning to the big time in 2015 have ended in such a manner, with Quique Sanchez Flores picking up two wins from his last 11 league games and the best-forgotten Walter Mazzarri losing his last six.

On each occasion the head coach has paid the price with their job and departed after just one season in charge. Surely, though, the recurring nature of Watford’s end of season malaise should see fault placed at the feet of the players as well as those in charge of leading them.

Many who have taken to the field during the early-spring slump of 2018 – Watford have one point from their last five Premier League games – were there under Flores and more still featured for Mazzarri.

The assertion in recent weeks, as it was in the past two years, is focus remains sharp among playing staff and a series of unfortunate events rather than repeated failings have conspired against the Hornets. It’s one which struggles to hold water.

Lapses of concentration and routine errors at set-pieces have been Watford’s undoing and the last three games alone have seen seven points dropped in the last 20 minutes of games, a haul which would have the Hornets ninth had they remained resolute.

The concern for Watford, who with a nine-point gap on the drop zone look certain to stay up, is their remaining four games could well see them struggle to add to their 37 points before the end of the season.

Crystal Palace visit the Vic on Saturday still hungry for points to seal their top flight status and with a fine recent record against the Hornets, while a home tie with Newcastle is no easy assignment – the Magpies have been resurgent since Christmas and beat Arsenal in their last outing.

Add to the mix away days at Tottenham and Manchester United either side of the Newcastle game, and it’s hard to make an argument for Javi Gracia’s men picking up points freely.

Failure to win any of their remaining games would see Watford end the campaign without a triumph in nine games and the spotlight will undoubtedly turn on Gracia’s position. Football is, after all, a results business and Gino Pozzo is hardly renowned for his patience.

Gracia, however, deserves the chance to lead Watford into the summer transfer window, not least because of the manner in which he got their house in order after Marco Silva’s ill-fated tenure, winning three of his first five league games and taking the Hornets out of a relative nadir.

That is not to say the Spaniard is without his flaws, and the open manner in which he set up for 3-0 and 5-0 losses at Arsenal and Liverpool only contributed to eroding Watford’s confidence on the road. Since those defeats, he is yet to settle on a formula to counter Watford’s inability to score away from home.

Gracia’s players, though, have taken to the Spaniard, with multiple testimonies praising a likeable man and talented coach who has changed the atmosphere in the changing room.

If Gracia is to get the chance to continue to build on the foundations he put down early in his tenure, he could well need those same players to rediscover their form and take responsibility between now and the end of the season.