Cleverley On Oxford: "We Weren't Clinical Enough"

Watford Head Coach Tom Cleverley admitted that his side did not produce enough in the final third as the 10-man Hornets were beaten by Oxford.

The Golden Boys were in control of the game at the Kassam Stadium but could not find a breakthrough, and James Abankwah’s sending off then tipped the scales in the hosts’ favour.

Siriki Dembélé grabbed the only goal shortly afterwards to leave Watford wondering what might have been had they turned their domination of the ball into goals.

“I thought there was one team in full control,” Cleverley said. “Not just in control, in full control.

“We created 15, 16 shots - okay, in the second half, we didn’t have any on target which is a disappointing thing. 

“We weren’t clinical enough. But I felt we were the team in the ascendancy and we were going to go on and score.”

Cleverley said Abankwah’s red card for two bookable offences “changed everything”.

“It's a soft yellow card,” he said of the second booking. “There’s a small tug on the shirt. 

“I think the area of the pitch it took place in, I wouldn’t expect him to give a red card after that.

“By the letter of the law, possibly. But I feel a little bit hard done by today.”

Watford have collected four points from their last four games but Cleverley believes his side’s performances have merited more.

However, he is aware that results and not good displays are what matters at this stage of the season.

With the Hornets five points adrift of the Sky Bet Championship play-off spots, the Head Coach believes six wins may be what is needed from the final eight matches.

“It doesn’t mirror what the performances have been,” he said on his team's haul.

“It’s my job, which is a hard job, to keep the players believing.

“We’ve certainly not deserved to come away from our last four games with only four points, but that’s football, that’s how we are measured.

“Sometimes, the harder you work, the luckier you get so we’re back to it.

“It was six in nine before today, now it’s six in eight.

“It’s an opportunity missed from a game we were in full control of.

“Now it’s not about performances, it’s about results.”