Quique Sanchez Flores believes his side were very competitive in their FA Cup semi-final defeat and says it was hard to know whether Watford or Crystal Palace would win during the second half.

The Hornets ultimately fell short in their Wembley clash after losing 2-1 to the Eagles as they missed out on a place in next month's final.

Palace led early on through Yannick Bolasie before Troy Deeney's header sparked wild celebrations in the Watford end.

But Connor Wickham headed home the 61st minute winner to deservedly take Alan Pardew's side into the final against Manchester United.

Watford head coach Flores said: “I think we were very competitive in the match. It was very difficult to recover after the first goal of Crystal Palace. We needed to take time to recover a little bit.

"It took us ten or 15 minutes to recuperate the  team. But then I thought we recovered well and got into the match again. We competed well and created attempts in the second half with more spirit.

"In the second half it was difficult to know whether Crystal Palace or Watford were going to reach the final and finally it was Crystal Palace."

The attacking threat from Bolasie, Wickham and Wilfried Zaha gave the Hornets problems throughout the match and Flores admitted their power made the difference.

The Spaniard added: “Congratulations to them. They have a very good team, a very good manager and they have very good power in the last third which was decisive in the end."