Troost-Ekong urges Watford to bounce back

William Troost-Ekong felt a sluggish start set the tone early on and meant Watford struggled to get onto the front foot during a disappointing first half at Brighton.

Shane Duffy and Neal Maupay goals left the Hornets trailing 2-0 at the break, a deficit they failed to overturn despite an improved showing in the second half.

“From the kick-off, there was an interception, so that wasn’t a great start and we played into their hands,” said Troost-Ekong.

“Against a good team like Brighton, when they get going you’re going to have to climb quite a big mountain to get back into the game.

“In the second half we changed formation and it worked much better for us. We were on the ball much better and we were all of a sudden dangerous again. We have to learn from going behind first and going through all of that before doing things right. That’s the biggest lesson today.”

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It was Troost-Ekong’s error that led to Maupay’s goal and the defender was happy to hold his hands up for the loose ball into Tom Cleverley.

“I spoke to the boys in the changing room to say I take responsibility for that,” he said.

“We do try and play out from the back and of course it’s a mistake so it’s not good enough, even though sometimes it’s going to happen so I try not to let it affect the rest of my game.

“I’m sure throughout the season there’ll be mistakes because that’s all part of it, but it’s how you bounce back and as a collective we were much better [in the second half] and it felt like we were a threat.”

The Nigerian believes the way Watford played during the game’s latter stages gives the team cause for optimism.

“We have to [take encouragement],” he said.

“The season is so long and the most important thing is to try and be consistent and show maturity, because it’s not going to be a season where we win every game.

“There are going to be games where we are better, like last week, and there’ll be games where we don’t deserve to win, like today, so we have to learn from that.”