Watford 2 Rotherham United 0 - ‘Maybe we showed them a little too much respect’ admits Paul Warne

Troy Deeney added to the centre-back’s early opener to lift the Hornets up to third place.

Rotherham, who were much improved in the second half after a lacklustre opening 45 minutes, remain two points off the drop zone.

Watford required just four minutes to take the lead.

Rotherham goalkeeper Jamal Blackman had made a good block to deny Stipe Perica but the Millers could not cope with the corner.

Deeney flicked on Ken Sema’s delivery and centre-back Kabasele stuck out a long leg to net from five yards.

It took a further 11 minutes for the Hornets to double their lead from even closer range, with Millers defender Wes Harding providing an unwitting assist by slicing Kiko Femenia’s cross towards his own goal.

The ball would have dropped the other side of Blackman’s left-hand post but Deeney had anticipated and pounced from two yards for his second goal of the season.

Michael Ihiekwe did well to stop Ismaila Sarr setting Perica up for the third but the half-time whistle came as a relief for the over-worked Millers defence.

Rotherham replaced Jamie Lindsay with Matt Olosunde during the break and immediately looked more dangerous, with Kyle Vassell forcing Ben Foster into what was to be his only save of the evening with an angled drive. Angus MacDonald headed wide from Daniel Barlaser’s free-kick late in the game.

Manager Paul Warne conceded his players had been disappointing in the opening exchanges.

He said: “Maybe we showed them a little too much respect.

“We changed our system but it was more about encouraging them to be a bit braver. Our wing-backs pressed higher up the pitch, which allowed us to cause them more problems.

“But for them to score so early, one from a set-piece and then a mistake, probably winded our lads’ confidence a little bit.

“We were playing 3-5-2 but then we went into a 4-5-1 because we were getting murdered down our left side. Both our left-backs are out with long-term injuries so I’ve got a centre mid playing left-back, bless him.

“They had pace all over the pitch so we had to change our system. The players went out and performed really well in the second half so I couldn’t be prouder.”

Watford: Foster, Ngakia, Troost-Ekong, Kabasele, Femenia (Wilmot 90), Sarr (Quina 90), Cleverley (Hughes 68), Chalobah,Sema (Garner 84), Perica, Deeney (Joao Pedro 69). Unused substitutes: Bachmann, Navarro, Philips.

Rotherham: Blackman, Jones (Jozefzoon 69), Harding, Ihiekwe, A MacDonald, Wiles, Lindsay (Olosunde 46), Barlaser (Clarke 79), Crooks, Vassell (Miller 79), Smith (Ladapo 79). Unused substitutes: Johansson, Thompson, Wood, Hirst.

Referee: J Smith (Lincolnshire).

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click HERE to subscribe.