The good work done in training, the meticulous preparation, the tactics and shape you prepare, the warms-ups and those final words in the dressing room before the players head to the tunnel - they all unravel very quickly if you concede an early goal.

Not only that, but it gives the opposition a huge boost before the game has even developed any pattern.

Having conceded against Middlesbrough in midweek after four minutes, the Hornets were behind even quicker at Rotherham with the home side going ahead after barely 120 seconds.

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Edwards 'very frustrated and angry'

Rotherham 1 Watford 1 - match report

Head coach Rob Edwards drew a deep breath before discussing that nightmare opening at the New York Stadium.

“Two minutes gone, the ball came into the box and, obviously, we aren’t telling players before the game ‘let’s see what happens when we give Wood a free header from 6 yards’.

“That clearly isn’t the message we give to players, and yet that’s what we did – and obviously if you do that, chances are the player will score. It’s something we have to make certain we improve upon.

“Four minutes in against Middlesbrough, two minutes in against Rotherham. That has to stop.”

The question is, how does Edwards and his team of coaches set about doing that?

“We can accept it’s happened and we can talk about it, and we can work on certain things in training,” he said.

“In the last few weeks it’s been difficult to work on things in training as we’ve been through a run of games followed by recovery. Now we have a clear week.

“It wasn’t just that first couple of minutes, for me we weren’t right for the first 20 or so. I don’t want us to make assumptions or take things for granted that we’ll just turn up here and win, because that’s clearly not the case. It’s certainly not the message we give the players.

“We have to instil into the players focus, some steel, some aggression and that we show it from the very beginning.”

Depending on how you view it, the Hornets are unbeaten away from home or have failed to win away from home.

“We want to win games, and it is frustrating for me, and I’m sure it is for the fans,” admitted Edwards. “We want to go away from home and win games, not just draw them.

“We were trying to win the game, it was them who were trying to see the game out at the end. I know we’re good enough to have taken three points home. At times we showed we’re good enough to do that. What we have to do is make sure we do it. We didn’t have that edge that we needed to win the game.

“We’ll get better at breaking teams down. We’ll come up against a lot of similar challenges where teams sit back and we have to break them down. We have to find a way of doing that better than we did against Rotherham.”

It does, though, stem back to that shoddy start which meant the Hornets were playing catch-up before some fans had taken their seats.

“We need to compete better, and we need to do it from the start,” said Edwards.

“Even the best teams in the world who play the most beautiful football still have to compete as well as anyone else. In the first part of the game we just didn’t compete and we have to do that if we want to earn the right to play.”

The other disappointment was that, having got a firm grip of the game from quite early in the second half, the Hornets didn’t turn their obvious territorial advantage and domination of possession into goal attempts.

“We had two out-and-out number nines on the pitch as well as Joao, and in that situation we have to get the ball out wide and then cross it. It’s what we are telling the players from the side,” said Edwards.

“We got the ball into the final third no problem at all, and we did ask some questions of them because it wasn’t like they weren’t having to defend. But when you have possession like we did you’re wanting to see the opposition having to go to last-ditch defending and their keeper being worked all the time.

“The last occasion we did that was around the 70-minute mark, which isn’t good enough. We have to do better.”

There were, though, still positives to be taken from the game despite the realisation it was two points that got away.

“When I reflect on it properly and watch the game, I’m sure I’ll see some things even in that first 20 minutes that were positive and good,” said Edwards.

“The willingness to dig in and show some character, even though we weren’t playing well, will be one of them I think.

“We have had character all season long when we’ve not been at our best in terms of performance. We have been willing to stick at it and fight for each other.

“For instance, I thought some of the recovery runs from Joao (Pedro) today were magnificent. He hates losing the ball. Then we dealt well with when we were getting a lot of long balls played into our box and we scrapped for the second balls.

“At 1-0 down, we didn’t feel sorry for ourselves and we did knuckle down because their players and their fans were really up for it once they’d scored.

“The key thing is, any good things we did are things we have to do from the first whistle.”

An obvious plus point was a second goal in as many games for Vakoun Bayo, and not just any old goal either.

“It was a fantastic goal, just a shame it wasn’t in front of our fans as that would have made it even nicer. It was a great cross from Ken (Sema) and then an amazing volley from Bayo. Two in two and he’s feeling confident now.

“He works very hard and is a true team player. The technique he displayed for the goal was terrific. He is a very selfless player who will work for the team, and also has shown the finishing ability he has.”

There was also a highly promising cameo from the bench for striker Keinan Davis, who even in a few minutes showed why he caught the eye in Nottingham Forest’s promotion campaign last season.

“He is a top player,” said Edwards. “We know he’s going to help us and I was delighted when we managed to get him in. He’s a great lad which is always important to me, and when we get him fit and flying he’s really going to make a big difference to us.”