Watford FC: Tom Cleverley rips into Hornets squad following Burnley defeat | OneFootball

Tom Cleverley pulled no punches in his assessment of Watford's 2-1 defeat away to Burnley

Watford boss Tom Cleverley delivered a scathing assessment of his side's performance in their 2-1 defeat away to Burnley on Saturday, describing it as a "really disappointing afternoon" in Lancashire.

In fact, describing it as disappointing was about the biggest compliment Cleverley gave his side's performance at Turf Moor, as he lambasted a lack of fight among his players.

The Hornets had been going along nicely in their promotion quest, and the former Manchester United man will hope this Burnley-sized bump in the road doesn't derail their quest to return to the Premier League.

Cleverley has now laid down the gauntlet to his side ahead of a busy festive period which promises to have a huge bearing on Watford's ambitions, with their next three games all coming against bottom-half sides.

Tom Cleverley pulled no punches when asked where things went wrong for his side at Turf Moor

A clearly upset Cleverley gave an unusually frank interview to Watford's club media team in the wake of Saturday's defeat, with many fans refreshed by his complete honesty in regard to his side's performance.

The ex-Man United midfielder told Watford's club website: "I think the scoreline flatters us, and I have told that to the players afterwards.

"Let’s not get in a false sense of security after 2-1 away at Burnley - that could have been a lot more convincing. Nowhere near an acceptable performance from us today.

"I think they showed more personality to play, get on the ball, they showed better problem solving, but more worryingly, they ran more and they tackled harder, so it is a really disappointing afternoon.

"If we are serious about our ambitions, we have to have a better mindset in these away games where you are going to suffer setbacks.

"At home we have suffered setbacks and responded to them, but away from home we just don’t show the same character or mindset to be able to come back from any deficits."

After claiming his side don't perform anywhere near as well on their travels as they do at home, Cleverley ought to be glad his side now have back-to-back home games.

Games against Portsmouth and Cardiff represent a great chance to put points on the board for a side who have displayed some incredible form at Vicarage Road this season.

The Hornets have won 10 of their 12 games there this season across league and cup, so they look good value to bounce back with six points, which would seriously strengthen their play-off push.