In football, when you’re leading 1-0, one of the most important things is to keep pushing and not to sit back.

Unfortunately, for those inside Vicarage Road on Saturday, Watford did the exact opposite. Instead of trying to build on their 1-0 lead, the Hornets sat back far too much during the second half, inviting pressure from West Ham, and that inevitably lead to an equaliser from the Hammers.

Now, I just want to make clear that I thought a draw was a fair result and a point probably isn’t a bad thing either given the other results in the Premier League at the weekend.

However, three points would have been much better for a number of reasons. The second half was so incredibly frustrating, as West Ham were there for the taking and we failed to capitalise on it.

During the first 45 minutes, I thought Watford were doing well as we looked dangerous on the break, confident in possession and fairly organised at the back, something we haven’t been able to say too much this season, meaning West Ham didn’t have many opportunities.

However, in the second half, the positivity from Watford went out of the window. We sat back far too much, were poor in possession and didn’t look like creating anything for large parts.

Why, when you’re leading 1-0 at home, would you want to sit back and invite pressure, especially with our defensive record this season? Now, I don’t know what was said at half-time, but this isn’t the first time this has happened either.

Against Burnley we sat back too much in the last 15 minutes and nearly ended up drawing that game having been in front for so long. So, is this down to the players becoming too complacent, or is this a tactic deployed by head coach Walter Mazzarri? Either way, it’s not a good sign and needs to be stamped out.

While we have got a decent squad, I’m not satisfied we have the personnel to be able to sit deep and hold on to a lead. We haven’t got that defensive resilience which is required.

Losing Mauro Zarate was a blow because he was the best player on the pitch during the first half, but that shouldn’t be an excuse to rip up our game plan and settle for what we’ve got. Aside from the last ten minutes in the second half, all we did was pump long aimless balls up field which were so easy for the Hammers to defend against, especially when they’ve got a giant in Jose Fonte at the back.

When we passed the ball around, like we did in the first half and in the final few minutes, we looked dangerous. But by lumping the ball up field time and time again in the second half, it made things far too easy for West Ham to defend against. It was like we had no game-plan or composure, meaning their defence and midfield didn’t have to break sweat.

So, while a draw isn’t necessarily a bad result, things could have been so much different if Watford had pressurised the Hammers more during the second half, as they were certainly there for the taking. I know Isaac Success squandered a great chance at the end, but we didn’t deserve the win, as our second-half performance left a lot to be desired.

It’s now time to look ahead to this weekend’s match and we’ve got another home game against Southampton. It’s important we learn lessons from Saturday’s game against West Ham and target three points against a team who are in and around us in the table.

Keeping Saints striker Manolo Gabbiadini quiet will be key, but it will be crucial for Watford to show some creativity and composure in possession if they want to secure those important three points.

Bradley Hayden is the founder and sole writer of @WatfordFCBlog