The Hornets sealed a deserved victory at Vicarage Road, but still have a three-point gap to bridge to sixth spot if they are to achieve their ultimate target for the season.
Ahead of two more key matches against Ipswich Town and Bristol City this week, Still picked out a couple of elements for them to improve on.
He said: “We should have killed it earlier.
“There were opportunities there to kill it early and it’s something we’ll have to learn quickly because you’re leaving yourself open to something if you don’t do that.”
Ed’s first game at The Vic 🤝 Ed’s first win pic.twitter.com/851SfcJynp
— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) February 22, 2026
Nestory Irankunda, starting his first league match since November 7, was one of the culprits, racing through on goal having snuck back on after treatment but shooting too close to the goalkeeper.
Still believes the general performance can get better, too, with too many passes back to goalkeeper Egil Selvik one of the elements that he wants to fix.
He said: “We want to be more fluid with the ball and that will come with time.
“It’s first about being aggressive, being really stable and compact defensively, because we know that we need that base to be able to push on.
“Then when you do have the ball, to pass forwards. There were too many passes back to Egil, especially in the first half.
“We want to be playing forwards and offering solutions so that everybody on the ball has a forward pass that’s available.”
Ed Still celebrates his first win as Watford head coach (Image: Alan Cozzi/Watford FC)
The scenes of celebration at full-time at Vicarage Road were long overdue, though, with that positive feeling between players and fans something Still views as crucial if anything is to be achieved this term.
He said: “The fans were massive from kick-off.
“They pushed us and we want to give them something to get behind and cheer for.”