The decision not to strengthen the defence – or the squad as a whole - during the January window looked questionable again as Watford battled back from 2-0 down to get level at 2-2 before shooting themselves in both feet and losing 4-2 at Norwich.

One clean sheet in 19 league and cup games tells its own story. Teams hoping to be competitive at the top end of the table just don’t ship goals like that.

There were questions to be asked of the Watford defence for all four goals, although the first and last were particularly galling.

For 35 minutes the home side pushed and pulled the Hornets all over the pitch, and it was no surprise when they went ahead although the half-hearted attempt Jamal Lewis made to try and stop Hernandez breaking into the box was feeble at best.

Wes Hoedt then conceded a penalty when he didn’t spot McLean coming in on his blind side and promptly upended the City captain as he tried to clear the ball.

Two down and barely in the game, Watford then showed some fight. Mileta Rajovic pulled one back but the Hornets wasted a couple of other good openings.

Not to worry though, because they came out and bossed the first 30 minutes of the second half to such an extent the home fans were turning on their own players and the manager long before Watford made it 2-2.

The sad fact is, this game will not be remembered for the stunning strike from Yaser Asprilla that brought Watford level. It should be, but it won’t.

However, it’s worth taking a moment to marvel at the sheer venom the young Colombian put behind a shot that swerved viciously away from Gunn and only was only stopped when it flashed into the net just between the intersection of crossbar and post.

As they would have said on Soccer AM, absolute top bins.

That should – should – have been the catalyst for a drive for three points. Norwich looked a total mess, the home crowd were chanting ‘2-0 and we f***ed it up’ and Watford had their tails up.

But then they undid all their good work with some pretty miserable defending.

Barnes may have got lucky to run onto his own flick but he had time and space to slide the ball into a huge gap that Sara ran into before slotting home.

Then more poor tracking back out on the left – including from Emmanuel Dennis, who looked wasted out on the flank – allowed Norwich to get a cross in which Fassnacht attacked at the near post when none of the defence did.

From looking utterly deflated and potentially struggling to keep hold of a point, Norwich had all three in the bag.

Credit to them for digging in, but to overly praise them would be to underestimate just how much Watford contributed to their own downfall in both halves.

They were slow to start, sloppy and cumbersome until they scored and then, having shown some spirit and resilience to drag themselves back into it and looking the more likely winners, they simply crumbled and looked tormented and tired.

Tiredness is going to be a problem. That is patently obvious. Most of these players have played all or a large part of five games in 16 days, and tonight was their third consecutive midweek match.

Even last week at Southampton, when there were seven players left out to give the squad some rotation, all seven were still on the bench. The squad has so little depth there is no way of giving anyone a proper break.

The defence, in particular, looked shattered at the end – but with no fresh faces it’ll be a case of shuffling a well-thumbed pack.

There will be a break for Ryan Porteous now though – he’s suspended after picking up a booking.

Dennis must surely be played through the middle if we are to see the best of him. He hugged the touchline when he came on and made a couple of runs, but was peripheral and looked frustrated at times.

That led to him doing what fans will remember was one of the less effective parts of his game first time round at Watford – running and running with the ball until either he was tackled or he managed to get a shot away.

A frustrated Dennis becomes a rather greedy Dennis, and tonight gave more weight to the argument that if he is to be effective for Watford in this second spell, he most likely needs to be central rather than wide.

It’s now four straight defeats, six games without a win and while Watford are nowhere as far down the table as they were after that October night at Sunderland, this defeat feels as morale-sapping and worrying as that one did.

Norwich were not very good, but they scored four and managed to win a game they looked more likely to throw away.

The defeat at the Stadium of Light was followed by an uplifting run of just two defeats in 12 games which unexpectedly brought the play-off places into focus.

After a wet and gloomy night in East Anglia, surely that short-lived dream is now over and the season becomes a case of making the best of what remains while also wondering what might have been.

There was just the one, expected, change to the starting XI with Rajovic replacing the injured Vakoun Bayo.

That meant both Tom Dele-Bashiru and Ryan Porteous kept their places in defence.

Meanwhile, there was a welcome return for Edo Kayembe on the bench, his first time in the squad since New Year’s Day.

The Hornets just didn’t get going from the start and spent most of the first 35 minutes chasing the home side around as they moved the ball quickly and got it wide as often as possible.

In the first minute McLean shot over from 25 yards and then Barnes got on the end of a cross from the left with a scuffed shot that spun up and required Ben Hamer to tip it wide.

In the 19th minute Norwich went ahead, and it was not a goal that Lewis will look back on with any fondness.

Hernandez ran at Lewis and found it too easy to get in behind to the by-line and stand the ball up.

Barnes met it with a header that Hamer got to and palmed away, but the goalline technology told referee Mr Attwell it had crossed the line – and images afterwards showed it was in by quite some way.

It got worse in the 27th minute when in an attempt to hack clear a corner, Hoedt didn’t see McLean nipping in between him and the ball and promptly sent the Norwich skipper to the ground as he took a swing.

Referee Atwell pointed to the spot and Hamer did well to save the spot kick, but the ball span up and Sargent followed in to head home.

Finally Watford got their act together and started to offer something going forward and in the 36th minute they wasted a good chance.

Rajovic stole the ball in the centre circle and raced away. He had Martins up with him to his right but his attempt to find him hit the only covering defender.

However, the Hornets did pull one back in the 41st minute.

A sublime ball from Kone split the Norwich defence, Sema ran onto it and chipped it into the centre where Rajovic converted from his customary few yards out.

Norwich went close when patient build-up ended with Sara clipping the side netting with a shot from the edge of the box.

However, Watford passed up a great chance to level on the stroke of half-time.

Kone stole the ball midway inside the Norwich half and drove at the defence. They thought he was going to shoot but he instead slipped it right to Martins. The Brazilian chopped inside past a tackle but then sees his shot blocked.

Seven minutes after the restart another great chance went begging. Martins spun inside his own half and raced away from two defenders down the right. His low drag back ran to Sema but he fired across the face of goal.

In the 71st minute Watford were level in truly breathtaking style.

Asprilla picked the ball up midway inside the Norwich half, moved towards the box and then let fly with a screamer from 25 yards that swerved away from Gunn and found the top left bins. If you didn't see it, make sure you find the highlights – it was that good.

At that point, Norwich looked dishevelled and Watford had the look of a team that was going on to complete the comeback.

But then, in the 77th minute, Barnes beat Porteous to the ball and it deflected back into the striker’s path.

That allowed him to play in Sara on the left, and he sped into the box before beating Hamer with a low shot into the far corner.

Four minutes later it was all over as Norwich went 4-2 up.

The Hornets had the ball, lost it and just didn’t work hard enough to get it back, allowing Norwich to break down their right.

Stacey crossed and Fassnacht's hooked shot appeared to clip Porteous before creeping in at the near post.

Watford: Hamer; Dele-Bashiru (Andrews 82), Porteous, Hoedt, Lewis; Livermore (Ince 82), Kone, Chakvetadze; Martins (Dennis 60), Rajovic, Sema (Asprilla 60). Subs: Bachmann, Sierralta, Pollock, Morris