It was only a few weeks ago that Valerien Ismael said he ‘had to get loud’ with his players in the dressing room at half-time after a sub-standard first-half display.

The first 45 minutes of this afternoon’s 2-1 FA Cup third round win elicited a similar reaction from the Watford head coach after his side came in trailing 1-0 to National League Chesterfield, who had given the Hornets a bit of a chasing at times during the opening period.

“Yes I had to get loud at half-time, but it was in a way more that I wanted answers,” Ismael said.

“I think like many people around the sidelines I was there and I didn’t understand what was happening.

“You could clearly see it was a mentality thing – it was nothing to do with quality, technically or tactically.

“I think we just showed the boys some clips of things we did really badly in the first half, to make sure that we started playing on our level.

“We said that we needed to raise our level and that is non-negotiable. We have to put the correct mentality into the game.

“We did it in the second half, but for sure I expected us to do it in the first half and to have a comfortable afternoon.

“But the players chose to go another way and make it more complicated. But at the end, if you get the right result than that’s ok.

“We have to make sure that we do the right things from minute one though, and to have more belief in ourselves.

“It’s all about us. When we decide to change the rhythm, when we decide to attack in the way we know we can then we can score a goal at any time.”

The Spirerites, cheered on by a Vicarage Road stand packed full of their fans, tried to take the game to Watford at every opportunity, never simply got bodies behind the ball, and also did their best to get in the faces of the Hornets players and unsettle them.

Classic cup-tie tactics from a team that can smell a giantkilling, and for 45 minutes ore more it looked very possible they could achieve one at the Hornets’ expense.

“We never had the flow in our build-up in the first half,” said Ismael.

“We needed to control the ball, to come through and give some difficulties to the opponents.

“We did that sometimes but you expect to do it more often when you are playing at home and trying to control the ball.

“If you create difficulties for the opponent every time you come through, then you change their mindset. The opponent will be more careful and maybe will drop deeper.

“But it was the opposite in the first half: we lost the ball and that allowed the opponent to come higher up the pitch.

“They grew confidence and scored the goal, and then we had to be strong in our minds.”