There is a phrase from the game of cricket – a ‘flat-track bully’ – which refers to batsmen who would pile up runs on pitches that offered no help to the bowlers.

However, once the conditions changed to be less in their favour then they struggle to look as good.

Currently, Watford look a very competent team at Vicarage Road, scoring goals, often battling back and displaying the qualities of a side that can be successful.

However, presented with Preston on a cold night or the cauldron that is Kenilworth Road for a derby, and they have looked altogether more feeble.

Does that make the Hornets flat-track bullies?

“If that tag is aimed at us, we can’t have a complaint at the minute,” admitted Tom Cleverley.

“It’s all of our jobs to make sure we become more resilient and hard to beat away from home.

“That’s the first thing. We’re not asking for scintillating wins away from home. We need to become more hard to beat.

“That’s where we have to start on Tuesday.”

Nothing in anything the Hornets did showed any sort of confidence at Luton.

“It looked like a lack of belief and a little bit of fear,” said Cleverley.

“When I say that I’m talking in possession: out of possession any footballer should compete, and we weren’t good enough at the basics today.

“With the ball we didn’t commit to our identity, we didn’t have any impact on the ball, certainly in the first half.”

After the game in the dressing room, were the players showing the same hurt that the fans piling onto the buses behind the away end were feeling?

“I tried to put as much pressure on the performance of today as possible, and of the consequences,” the Watford boss said.

“People like Angelo and Moussa know what it means at real big clubs if you lose a game like this.

“For me, losing a game like this, the consequences have to be massive and that starts with a quick reaction.”