21st January 2025- Championship, Watford 1 Preston North End 2

WFC.Net goal commentary: 1

BBC: Milutin Osmajic’s double earned Preston only their second away win of the season and denied Watford the chance to move into the Championship play-off places.

Sky: The loss was a third straight home defeat for the Hornets, despite Rocco Vata’s late reply.

Watford Observer: RECAP: Watford 1 Preston 2

Five talking points as Hornets lose third straight home game

Watford 1 Preston 2 minute-by-minute report

‘We are a very inconsistent football team’ – Cleverley

Watford need more reliable performers and less mavericks says Cleverley

Aimless performance in a season where we don’t know what the aims really are

Fran’s Watford Blog: Tom Cleverley was given a very warm reception as he applauded the crowd at the end, but it had been a terrible performance. The early injury to Baah had an impact on the game as a lot of our attacking threat disappeared when he left the field. But it was disappointing to see the players so passive allowing the opposition to completely dominate the game. The Hornets really didn’t get going until very late on. Again, Vata scored a terrific goal to warm up the crowd and there was a rally during time added on, but it was too little too late. The misery of the game just compounded the feeling of doom after the rumours the previous week that Cleverley’s job is in danger. I think Tom has done a terrific job with a limited squad. The players have actually looked like a team, and I have been far more entertained this season than I have in recent years. I really hope that Gino keeps faith with Tom, who I believe will go on to have a very successful career in management. If he doesn’t, I fear for our prospects for the rest of the season.