Tom Cleverley played his first 45 minutes of football since August 12 and Wesley Hoedt made his first appearance in Watford colours as the Under-21s were beaten 2-1 by Crewe Alexandra at Kings Langley FC this afternoon.

It was a game that the Hornets really should have taken at least a point from, but it was also one of those matches where as much importance was placed upon getting minutes into players as the actual result.

Cleverley was busy and full of running throughout his first-half stint, working to link play up and covering a lot of ground between defence and attack.

He threw himself into a couple of good hearty challenges, and there was no sign that the ankle injury which eventually required surgery was on his mind at all.

Hoedt, a recent signing from Anderlecht, cuts an impressive figure. Tall and athletic, he has something of the Sebastian Prodl about him in his stature, the way he carries himself and plays.

Aerially he was very strong, but on the deck he was very comfortable with the ball at his feet. Regularly he carried play forward, and he was also adept at pinging long diagonals.

Up front there was another run-out for Britt Assombalonga who, although only receiving sporadic service, had a couple of half chances before drawing a fine save from Crewe keeper Jack Flint five minutes before the break – although he may feel that having been teed up by Cleverley he should have left the visiting stopper with no chance.

In the second half, Yaser Asprilla replaced Cleverley and was his usual, busy self. He did a lot of ball carrying and popped up all over the place, trying to find a way to prise the Crewe defence open.

The Colombian midfielder also thought he’d scored in the 66th minute, but his thunderous free-kick from distance crashed against the underside of the bar, bounced down on the line avoiding the diving Flint, and was then hacked clear.

Head coach Slaven Bilic was there to watch the game, and will no doubt have been pleased to see three players that he didn’t have available to him a fortnight ago now forming an orderly queue for Saturday’s game with Blackburn at Vicarage Road.

He may also have been impressed with another good display from young winger Dawid Hamiga. The 17-year-old, signed from Beaconsfield Town recently, followed up a bright showing in the win away at Cardiff with another impressive outing this afternoon. He was always willing to take the full-back on and posed a threat on the left flank.

Alife Marriott made a very good stop early on to deny Connor Evans but he was left in no man’s land in the 23rd minute when Max Woodcock’s shot from the left took a deflection and spun up and over him to give Crewe the lead.

Assombalonga had Watford’s best chances but too often their impressive ball retention and approach play was let down in the final third.

Trailing 1-0 at the break, Watford took off Cleverley, Hoedt and Assombalonga and Asprilla entered the frey, and within two minutes he had slid a ball between two defenders for fellow sub James Collins to strike a shot which Flint blocked.

However, Crewe doubled their advantage through Owen Lunt in the 64th minute and the Hornets were facing a bigger mountain.

Asprilla’s fierce free kick that rattled the woodwork was as close as they had come before substitute Ezio Touray was brought down in the box to win a penalty.

He took the spot kick himself and struck it well enough towards the bottom left corner, but Flint – who had a good game in the Crewe goal – got down well to push it away.

However, Touray made amends in the 69th minute as he was played into the box on the left and beat Flint with an angled shot.

Watford pushed for the equaliser and saw Jordan Fankwe shoot over the target and then Touray met a smart Asprilla cross with a header that was just too high.

It was a disappointing final outcome, although the fact they lost was partly of Watford’s own making, but this was more about seeing senior players get minutes under their belt.

Watford: Marriott; Fankwe, Coyne, Delyfer, Holding, Hoedt, Fraser-Grante, Cleverley, Assombalonga, Manning, Hamiga. Subs: Collins, Touray and Asprilla for Hoedt, Cleverley and Assombalonga at half time; Macaulay and Sikiru not used.