Watford manager Rob Edwards must have regretted missed chances after seeing his side held to a goalless draw at Preston.
The home side had the best of the first half, with Alan Browne and Ryan Ledson forcing saves from Daniel Bachmann, but Vakoun Bayo and Rey Manaj squandered golden chances for the Hornets either side of the half. time.
Edwards said: “It was a hard earned point that could have been three.
“(Preston) showed it was very difficult to score against them, but the fact of the matter is that we might have taken one of our three or four big chances that we had.
“Our goalkeeper also made some good saves, so if you don’t win him, make sure you don’t lose him.”
The game’s best chance came on the hour mark when Manaj was sent one-on-one with Freddie Woodman.
His finishing was useless as he fired high into the stand with his left foot to the frustration of the traveling supporters behind the goal.
Of his side’s finish, Edwards said: “I think they’re good players, and we’d expect them to put them away another day, I’ll be honest.
“And they know that too, because they are good players and we have to demand high standards – when you get those kinds of chances, you have to punish the teams.”
The draw maintained both teams’ unbeaten start to the Championship season, although Preston have drawn four of their first five games and Watford three of their first five.
Preston boss Ryan Lowe hailed his side’s dogged determination against physical opponents
He said: “(Watford) are all big, strong guys – you don’t play in the Premier League for nothing.
“I know they went down, but I think we did wonderfully well.
“I thought there were a few moments that were a bit scary in terms of quality, but more importantly for us to keep playing like we do every week pleases me.”
The hosts got off to a sharper start and captain Browne pivoted to fire into the box, but his effort was brilliantly reversed by Bachmann.
The Irishman was again denied by the keeper in the second half as the Lancashire side recorded a fourth goalless draw in the league this season.
And Lowe was frustrated with the lack of goals.
He said: “The only frustration is that we didn’t score to give our fans something to sing about – they’ve been great.
“We had seven points from five league games, we would have liked nine or 10, 11 or 12.
“We just lack a bit of quality in front of goal and once we have that, whether it ricochets off a body or a header, however it comes, I’m sure we’ll carry on and keep trying to score more goals.
