Cleverley: "We Should Have Done More To Be Out Of Sight"

Tom Cleverley admitted Watford not taking their chances while in the ascendancy was a key reason why his side came away from Home Park with just one point instead of three.

Former Watford striker Andre Gray cancelled out Vakoun Bayo’s opener following an electric start from Watford, before Ryan Porteous restored the away side’s lead before the break.

The Hornets missed several second-half opportunities to put the game to bed, and were forced to settle for a point when Gray excellently completed his brace deep into stoppage time to see the game end 2-2. 

Cleverley is keen not to just put the draw down to conceding two uncustomary goals, telling watfordfc.com: “It is about looking at ourselves and not just saying ‘it is a freak result’ - we should have done more to be out of sight at 2-1.

“Sometimes goals are scored against the odds and if you reduce Plymouth to as little as we did this evening then we win that game nine times out of 10.

“Just because you have conceded a goal, it doesn’t mean sometimes it could not have been stopped.

“I want to look at why we have not scored a third this evening, and gone on to win the game comfortably.

“I think that was where the problem lied more than what happened in the last 30 seconds.

“I feel we had so many opportunities in transition that we just weren’t clinical enough with.”

Despite the agonising nature of conceding late on in second-half stoppage time, Cleverley still feels there are positives to be taken from the way his side played.

“It is a cruel sport at times and sometimes you don’t get what you deserve, and that is certainly one of those evenings,” he admitted.

“All of our traits and habits that we need to try and iron out seemed to be addressed really well this evening.

“We have been criticised as a group for the goals we have conceded and the away form, and I thought that performance certainly did not deserve to concede two goals, and definitely deserved all three points.

“The start was the best that I can remember, and we were in complete control.

“We scored when we were on top, and there is not much you can say to the players in there.

“If we replicated that performance today, or in any other away game, we pick up a lot of points on the road.

“It is my job now to pick the players up and prepare them for a tough test on Tuesday.”