Mackay Disappointed By Derby Display

Gaffer Malky Mackay pulled no punches in his assessment of yesterdays 2-0 defeat to Derby County at Pride Park. The boss told the assembled press afterwards that he was not happy that it had taken his side until the second half to ‘get going`.

Watford slumped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Rams who have been more up and down than a big dipper this season, but Watford`s abysmal away record extended to 12 without victory.

‘We are very disappointed because we didn’t get started until after half-time.”
‘Then we showed we could cause problems and create chances, but we have got to start like that.”

‘The preparation was the same but for some reason we didn’t come out of the traps. We’ve got to make sure we start at the same tempo as the opposition.” Said Mackay.

‘We have to make sure we battle and fight for everything. It was there in patches in the first half but didn’t come to the fore until the second when we did get on the front foot.’

‘We created two golden opportunities in the second half and chances like that have to be taken. The Scotsman continued.

Meanwhile, Derby County first-team coach, Gary Crosby confirmed that the opening goalscorer, Michael Tonge had been touch-and-go until the last minute due to illness:

‘He has been struggling all week with a virus but he wanted to play for as long as he could today.”

‘Michael adds quality. He’s very comfortable with possession in any area of the pitch and he is a lovely lad as well.”

‘He’s gone to Stoke and they are doing very, very well and he’s unfortunate not to be involved there more often than he has been, but that’s to our benefit at the moment.” Crosby told SkySports News

Thankfully for Mackay and co. it`s back to the comforts of Vicarage Road on Tuesday as Swansea, Peterborough and Ipswich all come to fortress Vic` in the space of seven days. If Watford are to avoid being sucked into a relegation battle and push on towards the Play Offs it will be a massive March.