Head coach Chris Wilder felt his Watford side did enough at the MKM Stadium to head home with a point.

They were beaten by a Ozan Tufan penalty but the home side created fewer chances whereas the Hornets had more possession and more goal attempts.

Wilder was also certain his team were denied a penalty of their own when a Joao Pedro shot appeared to be handled inside the box in the second half.

“I thought we deserved something from the game,” he said.

“I’ve managed a lot of Championship games and that was a typical Championship game.

“Somebody punishes a mistake you make, you don’t punish mistakes they make.

“I thought we tried to do the things we needed to do in order to get back into the game. When I was looking at the second half everything was going in the direction of our attack, there weren’t many counter attacks or dominant spells from the opposition.

“I thought the attitude was good. I’ve always talked honestly and openly to the players, with the media and anybody else, and it’s the same today and it will be for the rest of my career.

“I was honest with them afterwards and said I thought they deserved something from the game.

“I though tactically we were good, we got the press right and the shape of the team was right.

“Apart from the scoreline there was nothing in it in the first half, and I think they’ll look at it and think they’ve dodged a bullet in terms of not conceding a penalty.

“When it’s going against you a little bit, these things happen. We needed a big moment, and I do believe if we’d got one through the chances we created or a little bit more quality then we’d be bang in the game.

“I saw a team that wanted to get something out of the game, and that was a positive for me.”

Wilder did not argue about the penalty awarded against his team, but he was clearly unhappy in what led up to it, making reference to a player falling over due to not wearing studs. Having looked at the video later, that appears to be Ismael Kone, who fell as Hull started the attack on halfway.

“I’ve no complaints about the penalty decision in terms of it was a rash challenge from a young man that wanted to win the ball,” said Wilder.

“There was a couple of mistakes before. A player who just needs to put the right footwear on, which is poor. I live about an hour down the road from here and it’s quite wet where I am, and it’s quite wet up here.

“So you might need to wear studs, and not fall over every time. At half time it was too late because the goal had gone in.

“Fall over and slip because you’ve got the wrong footwear on, and then another mistake after that, and then Ryan has made a rash tackle.”

Having accepted the penalty that went against his side, the Watford head coach was bemused that they didn’t get one of their own in the second half when a Joao Pedro shot struck a Hull arm.

“How we haven’t got a penalty I will never know. It was a 100% penalty for handball,” he said.

“There’s nine players around the referee and there’s too much of a straightaway reaction from everybody.

“I’ve seen it on the tablet on the sideline and I’ve seen it afterwards. It’s a definite penalty.”

Perhaps the most obvious problem was that for all their possession and time spent on the ball, it took until the 82nd minute to force Karl Darlow into a meaningful save.

“Our finishing and the final pass, and the decision making in the final third, let us down,” Wilder admitted.

“In the last minute we’re desperate to get something from the game, the ball goes to Ken Sema, he’s done great to get it on his left peg, all he needs to do is ease it into the box but he has a shot and it goes way over.

“Maybe those decisions had to be better, and a bit more quality in the final third – and we should be able to do that with the quality of players we’ve got. But we didn’t find it today.

“There’s still loads of things to be improved, but from a character and attitude point of view I thought it was a decent effort.

“I’ve not been easy on the players or sympathetic to them after Wednesday, because they’re professional footballers.

“It is a testing time for them and they have to show through adversity what they’re all about.

“I think someone said last week I’m not good in adversity. I think if you look back over my career I’ve had quite a lot of adversity and come through, and I will do again.

“Players have to as well. That is what being a proper player is.

“I saw a team that at half-time wanted to try and get something out of the game. I thought we forced them back in the second half rather than they chose to sit in.

“At 1-0 up, if I were them I’d have liked to step up and have a bit more control of the game, but I thought we stopped them because we had the majority of it in the second half.”

Although Adrian Blake travelled up with the squad, he wasn’t part of the 18 named on the teamsheet.

“Blake was involved, he’s been involved all week. He was close and has been involved, and it’ll have done him a world of good in terms of being on an away trip, and how that all goes.

“I thought young Ryan was good again today, and we had James Morris on the bench as well.

“We’ll hopefully get a couple of the Academy boys who’ve been out injured back this week and see what they’re all about.”

It was also noticeable that the Hornets had four defenders on their bench.

“Well we hadn’t got a midfield player because Hamza missed out, so we were looking that Porteous could play as a holding midfield player late on if we had to.

“If we wanted to go three centre halves then we’ve got Wes who can play as a left-sided and Craig who can play as a right. It was a case of looking at the options.”