Watford boss Brendan Rodgers felt his side had played their part in Friday's 4-0 defeat at Reading, but admitted that some of his side's defending was simply not good enough.
Goals from Chris Armstrong, Leroy Lita, Noel Hunt and Kevin Doyle condemned the Hornets to a heavy defeat against the Coca Cola Championship automatic promotion hopefuls.
Rodgers said: "There were aspects of the game I was pleased with. We played well and dominated possession until the goal and then we had a crazy minute in the second half where we gifted them two goals."
He added: "You cannot do that against a quality side like Reading who will go up for sure this season.
"Defending has been our Achilles heel all season, even before I came here and we seem to take one step forward and two steps back."
Rodgers also dismissed speculation linking midfielder John-Joe O'Toole - an unused substitute - with a move to leaders Wolves.
He said: "I've had no bids for any players. There is going to be speculation about John-Joe as he is a top young player but I have nothing to report on that."
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