Sean Dyche confirmed he is looking to strengthen Watford's wide areas but insists they are not rushing into making a signing.

Michael Kightly made a big impact on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers but he has since returned and the Hornets seemed to struggle to create chances against Reading.

Dyche stressed he has full confidence in the players already at the club but accepted they are short of options in the wide areas of midfield.

He said: “It is not a number one priority like we are rushing out to do it. But it stands to reason as we only really have big Craig (Forsyth), who is a development player and is still learning about the Championship, and (Mark) Yeatesy.

“So we only have two what you call natural wide players who are available at this point in time. We obviously have the younger element but Michael Bryan is unknown at this level and Matty Whichelow is a more centralised player and he is still coming up to speed as well.

“That is somewhere we would look at and we have to work and be patient and see what is out there for us because of the numbers involved. It is a process which takes time and we have to sit there and wait for things to open up for us. The Michael Kightly one was like that.”

One of the main criticisms of Watford at times this season is the Hornets’ lack of creativity but it is not a view shared by Dyche.

He replied: “Fans have opinions, it is as simple as that. We have a group of players who are very honest, work very hard and they give everything to the cause.

“It’s not something that stuck out to anyone before we had two awkward results. I never heard it mentioned when we had lost one game in 11.”

The option to take Kightly on loan came slightly unexpected as he had been playing for the Wolves first team but Mick McCarthy decided he needed a run of games.

Dyche reiterated the Hornets need to be patient and is hoping a similar calibre of player will once again become available.

He said: “As I always say, we are not in a position to go and throw money at everything. We have to be patient and wait for opportunities to develop.

“We monitor a lot of players and we do that carefully but we can’t always go and make that happen, as we need to ensure a number of different things drop into place. It’s hard but that’s the position we are in at the moment.”