Watford didn’t play particularly well but it was a case of another job done as they beat Millwall 2-0 to move within a goal of moving back into second place in the table with four games of the season remaining.

Having got the comfort of a second goal, it looked like the Hornets would move into the top two for much of the second half as Norwich City were being held to a 1-1 draw at Bolton Wanderers, only for the Canaries to snatch an injury-time winner. However, Slavisa Jokanovic's men did have the chances, particularly later in the game, to add to their goals tally and get their automatic promotion prospects back in their own hands.

The relegation-threatened Lions battled throughout but they lacked a cutting edge or the moment of individual quality to breach the Hornets rearguard, although the visitors didn’t help their own cause defensively on occasions.

Their opponents, on the other hand, have proven numerous times they do possess individual quality and that came to prominence again in the 26th minute when Matej Vydra volleyed the visitors into the lead with a volley from the edge of the penalty area after being picked out by Ikechi Anya to net his 14th of the campaign.

The Hornets started the second half poorly but they flicked the quality switch in an instant to score the crucial second goal in the 56th minute as Vydra and Deeney combined before Anya secured his second assist of the afternoon to set up Adlene Guedioura to apply the finishing touch to a fluent move.

Jokanovic stuck by the 3-5-2 formation which his side utilised so well in their 2-0 victory against Middlesbrough last time out but he did make two changes. Matthew Connolly made his first full start in place of the injured Craig Cathcart, while Vydra was preferred to Odion Ighalo as skipper Troy Deeney’s strike partner.

Millwall recorded their first home league win in 13 matches by beating Charlton Athletic 2-1 and boss Neil Harris choose to leave his line-up largely alone, making just the one change as Mark Beevers came in for Jos Hooiveld.

Cheered on by a superb travelling army of 2,840 fans, the Hornets were quickly out of the traps and had a good chance to take the lead inside the opening 40 seconds when, spotting the signal of Deeney, Daniel Tozser played the ball over the top and the Hornets captain stayed onside as he brought the ball under control but Lions goalkeeper David Forde was quickly off his line to block the striker’s attempted finish.

The high-intensity start continued, with the visitors pressing well, but there was almost an uncomfortable moment in the seventh minute when Tommie Hoban ran across Lee Gregory as the forward sought to get on the end of long Dan Harding pass to leave it to Heurelho Gomes. The Watford goalkeeper did get there, but only just as Gregory almost got a touch on the ball.

The home side then won two corners, the second being awarded after some good far post defending from Hoban. The Hornets partially dealt with that set piece without properly clearing the danger and in the end Gregory sent the hosts’ first effort wide with a shot on the turn.

Watford were soon back on the front foot though, with Guedioura picking out Deeney with his latest good delivery from the right, but the captain got under his header and put it over the top.

It was no surprise Millwall were giving as good as they got in their opening 15 minutes given their plight and they nearly had another chance when Aiden O’Brien did well to get away from Connolly to cross from the by-line but he put his delivery too close to Gomes.

The atmosphere in the Den was cranked up another notch in the 16th minute when Ed Upson went down under pressure from Ben Watson in the area, but referee Simon Hooper was unmoved, much to the annoyance of the majority inside the ground.

The visitors had the first opportunity to try and exploit a counter-attack in the 21st minute when Tozser’s ball out of defence set Vydra away on the left and he in turn fed the overlapping Anya. But the Scotland international’s attempted cross was disappointing and Forde was able to gather comfortably.

In the 26th minute though, Watford moved back to within a point of leaders Bournemouth thanks to a lovely goal.

Tozser started the business end of the move off with a fine pass out to Anya on the left and the wide man brought the ball down before playing back to the edge of the area where Vydra connected superbly with a right-footed volley that beat the dive of Forde as it went into the bottom right-hand corner to make it 1-0.

Within a minute the lead could have been doubled as the Honets attacked down the right and Juan Carlos Paredes played the ball into the penalty area where Vydra dummied it for Watson, but the midfielder fluffed his attempted finish and put it high and wide.

Millwall might have had some joy in the 39th minute when Gabriele Angella tried to shepherd the ball back to Gomes from the by-line, but the keeper was beaten to it by Martyn Woolford. However, Tozser was able to get back to deal with the attempted cut back.

Soon after Woolford did have the home side’s first on-target effort of the afternoon, but he didn’t really get hold of his left-foot effort from the edge of the 18-yard box and Gomes was able to save comfortably enough.

However, the Hornets keeper was more severely extended in the last minute of normal time in the first half when he had to dive to his left to push away a Jimmy Abdou shot that came through a crowd of players.

The home side were quickly out of the blocks after the restart and they almost had a chance inside the opening two minutes when a corner from the right was flicked on but their opponents managed to clear their lines.

Another opportunity for the Lions came in the 51st minute when Hoban was penalised for holding and Shaun Williams curled a 25-yard left-footed free-kick not too far wide of Gomes’ left-hand upright.

Harding was the first player to be booked in the 54th minute for a heavy challenge on Guedioura but the visitors were not making it easy for themselves by giving the ball away or poor touches. But the same could not be said for what happened a minute later as the Hornets doubled their lead with a fine fluent move.

Vydra started it off by setting Deeney away to the left side of the area, he held up play before laying it off to Anya, who bided his time as he looked up before picking out Guedioura, who calmly steered the ball beyond Forde from eight yards to make it 2-0.

The Lions immediately made a change as Magaye Gueye came on for Woolford and this was soon followed by the return of Almen Abdi, who replaced Anya, as the Hornets switched to a 4-3-1-2.

Millwall had a good chance to pull one back in the 64th minute when a mistake by Connolly let O’Brien run through on goal one-on-one with Gomes, but the keeper stood strong and blocked at his near post before Conolly got back to clear.

Harris made his second change in the 68th minute, replacing Abdou with Lee Martin, but their opponents were now increasingly moving the ball around well and looking for the opportunities to increase their winning margin. Indeed, a third almost arrived when Deeney and Vydra combined before the former set the Czech Republic international away but Forde had just enough time to come out and gather as Vydra tried to get round him.

It was increasingly do or die for the home side and Harris brought on another offensive player in the 74th minute, with Harding making way for Stefan Maierhofer. And the substitute almost made an immediate impact as a Martin cross was flicked on by O’Brien towards the far post where Maierhofer was unmarked but Gomes reacted quickest to punch the ball away.

Sid Nelson was booked moments later for a nasty scything challenge on Abdi, who was soon to be on the end of another foul from Williams which earned the Millwall defender the same outcome as his teammate. In between times, the home side had half-heartedly appealed for another penalty when an off-target O’Brien shot struck Angella.

Gueye fired tamely at Gomes as Millwall’s search for a way back into the game became increasingly desperate and then Jokanovic made his second change, bringing Ighalo on for Vydra, who was feeling his knee and hobbling a little.

A third goal did almost arrive for the visitors with four minutes remaining when Ighalo met Guedioura’s ball in from the right and tried to juggle it past Forde, who did very well to react, and Abdi was unable to force it home.

Moments later Millwall were again opened up as Abdi received the ball in space on the right side of the 18-yard box, he picked out Deeney, who had time to turn and decide what to do. Watford’s top scorer opted for power but again Forde would not be beaten as he pushed the ball up into the air before it was cleared.

Marco Motta replaced Paredes in injury time as it looked like the Hornets’ automatic promotion fate would be back in their own hands until news began to filter through of Norwich's late winner at Bolton which moved the Canaries back into second place in the table. However, their goal difference advantage was cut to just one.

Millwall: Forde; Cummings, Nelson, Beevers, Harding (Maierhofer 73); Upson, Abdou (Martin 68), Williams, Woolford (Gueye 58); O’Brien, Gregory. Not used: Archer, Dunne, Bailey, Taylor-Fletcher.

Watford: Gomes; Connolly, Angella, Hoban; Paredes (Motta 90), Watson, Tozser, Guedioura, Anya (Abdi 60); Vydra (Ighalo 83), Deeney. Not used: Bond, Munari, Layun, Pudil.

Bookings: Harding for a foul on Guedioura (54); Nelson for a foul on Abdi (74); Williams for a foul on Abdi (80).

Attendance: 12,075 (2,840 away).

Referee: Simon Hooper.