Watford 2-0 Reading: Player Ratings

Joe Lumley: 6

Unfortunately went off after half an hour. Whilst he was on the pitch though he made a great save to prevent Davis from doubling the hosts lead and all but putting the game out of sight for the Royals.

Andy Yiadom: 6

On a night when a few of his teammates really weren't at the races, Yids was probably the most reliable of an unreliable bunch. Bearing in mind that for large proportions of the game he was tasked with dealing with the best player in the league, he did okay.

Amadou Mbengue: 6

Same as Yids really. Made me a bit nervous when I saw we were lining up in a back four and Mbengue was one of the centre backs, but all in all I thought he did pretty well.

Tom Holmes: 5

A bad day at the office for Holmes, particularly in the first half. He got given the run around a bit by Keinan Davis in the opening 45 and, although he was better after the interval, it was still a poor performance by his standards.

Baba Rahman: 4

He looked okay going forward, but for the most part this evening he was poor defensively. A wayward defensive header led to the aforementioned Lumley save at 1-0, he was rather lucky not to give away a second penalty just before halftime and he was half-hearted in his attempts to close Sarr’s cross down for the second. He’s really failed to live up to expectations so far this time around.

Tom Ince: 5

Ince wasn’t the biggest problem tonight by any means, but he was part of a toothless attacking performance. The formation switch didn’t help him as he was put out on the right hand side, probably to help Yiadom deal with Sarr. It meant he was out of the game and never really got on the ball - and when he did, he failed to deliver.

Tyrese Fornah: 6

Thought he was one of few who at least tried to get on the ball and make something happen, but like the rest of his team mates the quality just wasn’t there. Can be a frustrating player at times because you can tell he’s got talent, but the decision making needs a lot of work.

Sam Hutchinson: 6

Best of a bad bunch tonight. Our best spell (which wasn't really that good, just better than the rest of the 90 minutes) was just after half time, and during that time Hutch was the one getting on the ball and trying to make things happen. He’s a key player for us and we need him to stay fit from now on in.

Jeff Hendrick: 5

It’s been said time and time again about Jeff this season, but it was a bit of a nothing performance. It’s getting to the point where I’m not really sure what he’s adding to the team. There’s clearly a player there, but we’re just not seeing it at all.

Ovie Ejaria: 4

Ovie, Ovie, Ovie. My overwhelming feeling with Ovie is one of sadness. The player we saw when he first joined us - the one with flair, confidence and fearlessness coming out his ears - is a distant, distant memory.

Tonight was a bad night for him. He gave the ball away far too much, didn’t too anything of note going forward and, of course, channelled his inner Hulk Hogan to give away the penalty. I want the old Ovie back.

Lucas Joao: 5

Can probably count the amount of touches Lucas had on one hand. Granted that’s not entirely his fault, the players around him didn’t do a very good job of giving it to him, but you have to expect a player of Joao’s quality to do so much more than he did tonight.

When he’s hot, he’s scorching. But when he’s cold, he’s non existent. And we’re starting to see the latter version of Joao far, far too much.

Subs

Dean Bouzanis: 5

It’s not often your sub keeper comes on the pitch at all, let alone after 30 minutes. He made a good stop from Sarr, but then - and this might be being harsh and me just being in a sour mood - but I think he should do a lot better with the second. It’s a decent ball in, but you expect your keeper to parry that into some form of safety.

Mamadou Loum: 5

Was always going to come on for Hutch at some point, and when he did he didn’t really do anything really wrong or really right. Picked up his customary booking.

Yakou Meite: N/A

Despite showing a little bit of fight and having arguably our best opening after a marauding run, Meite came on dead on 80 minutes which means he gets an N/A. Sorry Yaks, those are the rules.

Andy Carroll: N/A

Ditto above. But god knows why it took Ince until the 80th minute to make some form of attacking change.

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Average: 5.23/10

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