The Vicarage Road faithful got behind their team when the performance improved in the second half on Wednesday night, and Valerien Ismael knows his side will need to string two good halves together if they want to truly ignite the crowd.

Although the actual attendance at the Swansea game was clearly considerably lower than the figure declared, those who were there made great noise in the second half at a time when their patience is being sorely tested.

It’s now 102 days since the Hornets won a league game at Vicarage Road and, although there were some boos at half-time when they were trailing, the atmosphere and noise was more positive than it might have been during such a bad run.

“I have always said that as hard as it has been, the fans always give us a great feeling,” said Ismael.

“When we do the right thing we can use their support.

“When we scored on Wednesday night we showed we were doing something right and they got behind us.

“It’s what we need, and if we want to have that support then we have to play with consistency and desire.

“The fans can expect more from us, but we know that if we do it, then they will be there for us.”

Ken Sema limped off just before half-time on Wednesday night with a hamstring problem and will miss tomorrow’s game.

“Ken is ruled out for the game tomorrow,” said the Watford boss, who will also be without Jeremy Ngakia.

“We have assessed Ken’s injury and he has had a scan, and we are waiting for the results to see how bad it is.”

Both Ryan Andrews and Dan Bachmann returned to the team in midweek, and were involved in the own goal that gave Swansea the lead.

Is it a case that, when players have been out and are then brought back in, they can be trying ‘too hard’ in the early stages?

“Yes maybe players can be over-motivated in that situation,” Ismael admitted.

“That’s nothing bad, it showed the desire to show something – but in some situations you have to show composure and to react properly according to the situation.

“It happened, and what’s more important is to look at the things we did well in the second half.

“The desire that we showed to score the goal is what we need to show more of.”

After Wednesday’s game, messages emerged apparently sent between Coventry’s Head of recruitment Dean Austin – twice an assistant manager at Watford – and the Sky Blues’ manager Mark Robbins.

“I didn’t see them. I heard about it, but I didn’t see it,” said Ismael.

“It doesn’t bother me because our focus is always on the next game.

“When you have a bad run and losing games then things happen.

“The only way you change what those things are is by winning the next game.

“Tomorrow is a great opportunity to do that.”