Saturday 19 March 2016 19:25, UK
Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores admitted Stoke displayed far more intensity and energy as they ran out 2-1 winners at Vicarage Road.
The Hornets looked a pale shadow of the side which memorably beat Arsenal six days ago to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.
Goals in each half from Jonathan Walters and Joselu gave the visitors a comfortable victory despite Troy Deeney's late consolation.
"I'm really disappointed. I'm not happy with the performance of the team. The reality is if we don't play at a high level then it's difficult for us in the Premier League - we know that," he told Sky Sports.
"We need to learn our lesson from today and try and perform next time.
"They had more intensity, more energy and more focus in the match than our team.
"We created chances in the final third of the game. But in the first-half we were not completely focused. We forgot the plan.
"Stoke played well and very fast in the first-half and we didn't support our players. We didn't play like a team.
"We didn't create a lot of chances, but we're not happy with the match. We started slowly and didn't concentrate like we normally do."
Flores now wants his side to reach the magical 40-point mark with eight games of the season remaining.
"We're not worried with the future of the team in the Premier League, but of course we want to win and achieve 40 points as quickly as we can," he added.
