Bothroyd: U`s Surprised Me

Watford manager Aidy Bothroyd admitted he was surprised by the way Colchester United attacked them during the recent encounter at Vickerage road.

“Colchester didn`t come here to defend, they surprised me – fair credit to them, they put their bodies on the line,” Bothroyd told BBC Radio Bedfordshire. “They defended resolutely and got what they deserved,” he said.

Aidy also admitted that his team had failed to execute the plan devised to contain an electric Mark Yeates. “Every team has a player that can hurt you – we talked about Yeates before the game and had a game-plan to make sure we stopped him.”

“Obviously the lads had cotton wool in their ears when I was talking at that point! There`s a fine line between confidence and arrogance and we`ve got to respect our opponents.”

Watford would have been entailed to feel they should have won the game, given their 29 attempts on goal.

“They got a bit of stick from their own fans with the game at Plymouth, who pinned them back but – they are battle-hardened under Geraint Williams.”

Watford have had their lead at the top of the Championship cut to six points following West Brom`s 4-0 win on Monday night.