Watford head coach Rob Edwards says his side's defending must improve in the early stages of matches going into Saturday's clash with Reading FC.
The Hornets have conceded a goal inside the opening five minutes in each of their past two Championship fixtures. After conceding four minutes in at home to Middlesbrough, their most recent match away at Rotherham United saw a goal let in after just two minutes.
Edwards, who has overseen three wins but only one defeat in his first eight games as Watford boss, admits switching on from the first whistle is critical for his side going forward.
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"The first 20 minutes weren't good enough at Rothheram and we talked about that in the dressing room," he said. "We started too slowly and the goal was obviously not good enough. I don't think we competed well enough during the first 20 minutes.
"We allowed them to win too many second balls, to create havoc with long throws and make us defend, and we couldn't quite get a hold of the game in the first 20 to 25 minutes. We began to grow into it and get control and fight our way in - we scored a fantastic equaliser and then huffed and puffed.
"We had a couple of big chances and hit the woodwork, but then after around 70 minutes we kept going, but couldn't quite work the goalkeeper enough. We conceded after four minutes against Middlesbrough and early again at Rotherham. It's not good enough and it's something we've got to improve on."
Watford sit in sixth place in the league table, just three places and two points behind Reading, who returned to winning ways on Sunday with a 2-1 victory over Stoke City having lost 4-0 at Sheffield United in the previous game. Paul Ince's side, who have won five of their first eight games, are only two points off United who lead the way at the top.
BerkshireLive will have full coverage of Watford vs Reading at Vicarage Road. Our build-up starts at 1pm and kick-off is at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.
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