Quique Sanchez Flores has insisted that there were plenty of positives for his Watford side despite Saturday's 3-0 defeat by Arsenal at Vicarage Road.
The top-flight new boys kept the title-chasing Gunners quiet for over an hour, before Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring and the floodgates on 62 minutes, with Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey adding further goals.
Nevertheless, the Hornets spurned a number of promising first-half chances, but Flores has refused to be too downbeat after the match.
"For one hour we played really well," the manager told Sky Sports News. "We had our chances in the first half, then we conceded the goal when we were playing really well in the second half. We made a couple of mistakes, but I am really happy with the first hour.
"We spent a lot of energy because we needed to run a lot. The players did really well the first hour because we made good pressure in the middle. I think it surprised Arsenal a little.
"We didn't deserve to concede the goal in that moment, and for the next 10 minutes we went out of the match a little bit."
Flores's men sit 14th in the Premier League table.
Shane Callaghan
