It would have been easy for Watford Women head coach Damon Lathrope to steer away from the style of football he wants his team to play in order to chase a result, but yesterday’s 3-2 win at Charlton showed his side can get victories in this league while sticking to their principals.

Lathrope likes to play out from the back, keeping the ball on the deck and not resorting to going direct from back to front.

It earned promotion last season, and Watford deserved more than the one point they garnered from their opening two games back in the Championship.

Nonetheless, to get points on the board any coach could be forgiven for doing anything to get a win rather than follow the game plan.

For Lathrope, though, playing the brand of football his side have done was something he wasn’t prepared to divert from – and he was rewarded with three points.

“We’ve had this conversation with the players at the start of the season, and we’ve recruited players to play a certain way,” he said.

“We believe in that way of playing and we’re not going to start resorting to plan B or plan C if things don’t go right. What we’ll do is get better at plan A.

“That requires a lot of trust and belief, as well as a lot of resilience because it can be tempting to change and try other things to get a result.

“But in my opinion it would be mad to keep chopping and changing, that just breeds fear into the group.

“The players we have in the group are suited to the way we want to play, they believe in and we believe in it.”

Watford were 3-0 up by half-time at The Valley and then withstood a fightback from the home side after the break.

“It’s really important to get that first win, especially when our first two performances definitely warranted more,” said Lathrope.

“It’s refreshing when we relay the message to the players that you will get what you deserve if you consistently keep doing what you’re doing, and then you get the three points to back that up.

“The first two games were both good performances but we didn’t get as many points as we deserved, but this time we did.”

Charlton made it 3-2 with 10 minutes to go and Watford had to withstand a late onslaught which then extended into five minutes of stoppage times.

“Generally I am pretty calm but obviously we were under pressure,” Lathrope admitted.

Watford Observer: Sophie McLean celebrates her second goal at Charlton.Sophie McLean celebrates her second goal at Charlton. (Image: Andrew Waller Images)

“Charlton are a very good side, they had nothing to lose and they brought on four or five players that would probably be starting at the majority of other clubs.

“I won’t lie, it was getting a bit twitchy when it got back to 3-2 but I had full confidence in the girls. They were defending for their lives and willing to put their bodies on the line.

“It’s great when all the effort and endeavour comes good. I don’t want to be in that situation too much but it’s nice when you come out the other end of it with a win.”

Watford’s three games have seen them score six times, but they have also conceded six. Does the fact goals are going in please Lathrope more than any concern he might have about shipping as many?

“I would be far more concerned if we weren’t creating the opportunities,” he said.

“I feel it’s a lot easier to coach a team to stop goals than it is to get them to score goals. I’ve played in teams where we played good football, were solid at the back but couldn’t hit the net.

“This team are always looking dangerous when we have the ball. We always look like we can score goals, and yes, we know the way we play we might leave ourselves a little bit open out of possession.

“We conceded two yesterday but there were so many good bits in what we did. For 60 minutes we restricted Charlton to one shot on target.

“I’m very happy with where we are, but I also know that we need to do a bit more work to stem the goals going in the other end.”

One problem Lathrope is having to contend with is a lengthy injury list which meant he didn’t name the nine subs he’s allowed to yesterday.

“We can only use five subs, even though we can name nine,” he explained.

“What I don’t want to do is take players out of the development team who might not quite be ready anyway, and then sit them on our bench when they could be playing 90 minutes for the development team.

“If we fall any lighter than we are now then we’re probably looking at bringing a player or two in from the development team, but things are looking a little brighter on the injury front.

“The international break is after our game on Sunday and that comes at a good time for us. Give players a breather and rest up some tired muscles, and also give injured players another week to be available.”

Skipper Megan Chandler is back in contact training after being sidelined with a calf injury but Lathrope said he won’t take any risks with the defender.

Striker Michelle Ageyemang sustained a knee injury in the first half of last week’s defeat at London City, and missed yesterday’s game.

“It’s not a bad knee injury,” said Lathrope.

“Because she’s with us on a dual registration from Arsenal, they are treating her and she should be back and available not too long after the international break.”

Both Poppy Wilson and Annie Rossiter are nearing a return to the squad after muscle injuries, while Gemma Davison missed the win at Charlton due to a quad strain.

“She tried to play through it at London City last week, but she felt it wasn’t right so we’re taking action now to avoid it becoming more serious,” Lathrope explained.

Goalkeeper Jacqui Goldsmid is back in training after picking up a finger ligament injury early in pre-season, but will need more time before she can be involved while midfielder Anne Meiwald missed pre-season due to a groin injury so is now catching up on the work she missed through the summer.