Captain Wes Hoedt said that words of warning from himself and head coach Valerien Ismael issued in the dressing room before the game fell on deaf ears in the first half against Chesterfield.

Hoedt tried to impress upon the rest of the squad that unless they showed the same levels of fight, energy and desire as their non-league opponents, then the likelihood that any gap in skill and ability would quickly be closed.

And so it proved in a first-half during which the Spirerites took the lead and looked very capable of going on and completing an FA Cup shock.

“Chesterfield and their fans took the day very seriously, and that was something I tried to emphasise before the game that we, as a squad, needed to respect the opponent and respect our job by taking it equally seriously,” said Hoedt.

“I really emphasised to the players before the game, and the gaffer did as well, that we can’t be lazy and be slow starting.

“We had to respect that Chesterfield were going to come here to fight.

“I said that if we matched their intensity and did even more, then our quality would make the difference.

“That is what I think we didn’t do in the first half, and that is something we have to look at because it’s not acceptable.

“Luckily the whole squad reacted better in the second half.

“I didn’t have to think about the quality of Chesterfield, as they have good players. That is the thing about football in England, even if you play against a non-league team then the quality is there.

“They didn’t surprise me, and they put up the sort of fight I expected from them.

“Their big striker was hard to play against, he was physical, but they are the qualities they bring to the table.

“Throughout my career I have seen that if you are the more talented team, as we should have been today, then you still have to bring the same battling and physicality to the table as your opponents.

“If you don’t then you will have a tough day and you’ll struggle.

“We were just way too slow, as a team, in the first half. It was like we were strolling around.

“In the second half, because we upped our levels, the quality we have was more effective.”

The Hornets could, and probably should, have been in front before Chesterfield broke the deadlock.

“We had a very big chance with Kone in the first half, just before they scored, but once they had scored we knew it was going to be difficult,” Hoedt admitted.

“There were a few words spoken at half-time and they were necessary, because everyone needed to wake up and to realise that what we had done was not enough.

“I think I have to give credit to the gaffer and his staff for waking us all up at half-time.

“The team then went out and did what it had to do in the second half, although we should have taken our chances better.

“We could have changed the game around a lot earlier than we did.”

The team selection showed that Watford see success in the FA Cup as being important.

“It’s not just that the FA Cup is important – winning games is important,” Hoedt pointed out.

“We had lost two in a row at home so I think our fans deserved to see a win, because they came here in their numbers today.”

Hoedt came up against a big and combative Chesterfield front line, who didn’t stand on ceremony and were quite happy to make things physical.

“For me personally the dual I had today was a very fair fight with another player who wanted to do well for his team,” said Hoedt.

“The captaincy role has changed me a little bit because of the responsibility that comes with it, and also because I am setting the example for the other players.

“But I also see it as my job to ignite the fire within my teammates to be up for the battle.”

The Dutchman pulled no punches when sharing his thoughts on the Chesterfield goal – well worked on the right flank but ultimately a free header in front of goal.

“We should have marked much better, and we will need to look at it and ask why it happened,” he said.

“These are the little details, and they are the things that are annoying the s**t out of me at the moment.

“I think it’s been 11 games since we kept a clean sheet – and before that I think we were top of the league for clean sheets.

“Clean sheets bring stability to the team. I know we’ve scored a lot of goals so we have shifted to scoring extra goals, but we still have to make sure we don’t concede.

“It’s a point that we especially have to work on, and we have to do it as a whole team. It’s not only the back four, you need the midfielders and strikers to be there for you and to close the gaps.”

The last time Hoedt played in an FA Cup fourth round game, it was against Watford when he was at Southampton, with the Saints winning the game in January 2018 at St Mary’s 1-0.

Who would like to be paired with in the draw this time?

“If I am making my personal preference then I would like to go and play against one of the big teams in the Premier League,” he said.

“It’s a good test and a chance to measure yourself against the type of strikers that play at that level.”