Positives were in short supply for Watford on Saturday but the return to action of Gerard Deulofeu was one plus from the 4-0 defeat against Bournemouth at Vicarage Road.

The former Barcelona forward, who made last season’s loan move from the Camp Nou permanent in the summer, replaced Roberto Pereyra with around 15 minutes remaining after missing the opening two months of the campaign through injury.

The 24-year-old had no opportunity to affect the outcome with the Hornets losing 4-0 and down to 10 men. And he acknowledged Watford can not afford a repeat of the performance, despite being understandably pleased to get his first competitive minutes under his belt since the end of last season.

“I’m so happy to be on the pitch because it was a long time out,” Deulofeu told the club website. “I suffered a lot not being on the pitch and today I am happy to be back.

“The day is very bad because to play at home and lose in that way is not possible, that can’t happen and we have to improve many things.”

Deulofeu now has two weeks to continue to build up his fitness before Watford return to action after the international break at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, October 20 and he accepts results need to improve.

“Step-by-step I will improve with minutes and help the team because now it’s four or five games without a win and we have to change this way,” the player said. “Let’s keep training hard because that’s so important and keep doing things well because Watford started the season very well, but in the Premier League you can’t give anything to the other team because they’ll kill you.

“I think Watford need me because it has not been the best results and I want to help the team and my teammates. We have to improve altogether, I am so happy to train and play with my teammates but we have to change a lot of things because what we saw today we cannot see another time.”