Gianfranco Zola bemoans "sloppy" first half

Watford manager Gianfranco Zola has criticised his side's first-half performance during their 4-3 defeat to Charlton Athletic today.

Watford took the lead in the 11th minute, but went into the break 2-1 after a Tommie Hoban own goal and a Yann Kermorgant strike.

Zola believes that his side's second-half performance was an improvement, but bemoaned a lack of concentration and poor defending.

"We went in front but we were certainly not the normal team that we are. The passing wasn't good enough, we were sloppy and it was very costly. We tried to get into the game, in the second half we did better, but sometimes it's too late," said Zola.

"Maybe we had too many compliments (after beating Brighton) the other day and we went on the pitch with probably not the same awareness they had because they were winning all the second balls, all the headers and they found themselves 2-1 up by doing little. No disrespect towards them, but we let them get into the game too much because we were not sharp enough.

"We didn't manage to get the attention right and you can't afford that in this league. The second half was better. We tried to get the rhythm a bit better, more quality in the passing, but unfortunately our defending today wasn't the best. It's disappointing but a good lesson again for us. We will certainly be aware next time that after a good game you need to make sure you get the same concentration."

The defeat leaves Watford sixth in the Championship table, while Charlton now sit 15th.