Will Hughes has praised his Watford team-mates for stepping up against Fulham, as they scored three times in the second-half to win 4-1.

The former Derby County midfielder thought the Hornets' first-half display had been disappointing, but that ultimately they deserved the victory.

"We were disappointing in the first-half," said Hughes.

"Credit to Fulham, they did a good job and passed the ball nicely, we had to shake it up at half-time.

"We went man for man, matched them up and we ran over them in the second-half and credit to the boys for stepping up."

Watford had gone in level at half-time after Abdoulaye Doucoure's opening strike had been cancelled out by Ryan Babel.

However, Hughes unleashed a volley into the top corner mid-way through the second-half, after brushing aside Doucoure, who was shaping up to hit the ball himself, to put the Hornets back in front.

The 23-year-old described the goal as one of his better ones.

He said: "I’ve not got many goals to pick from, but I’ve scored a couple of nice ones and that one was right up there.

"I did give it a loud call and thankfully Doucs seen that. He scored a brilliant goal earlier and I think he tried to leave it to me."

While the victory was a memorable one for Watford that earned them a record Premier League points tally, a record number of Premier League wins and a record number of goals scored, it condemned opponents Fulham to the Championship for next season.

However, Hughes said they were merely victims of the sport's cut-throat nature.

He said: "They’re a good footballing side, but it is cut-throat in this division and you’ve got to concentrate for 95 minutes every single game.

"They’re down there for a reason, I do feel for them but I move on."