Watford came from a goal down to beat Preston North End 2-1 at Vicarage Road to bounce back from two successive Championship defeats.
Second-half goals from Edo Kayembe and Mamadou Doumbia were enough to secure the three points for the Hornets, who trailed at the break thanks to Callum Lang’s early strike.
Preston had numerous chances to double their advantage when leading but were denied by wasteful finishing and a good performance from Watford goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia.
The win takes Watford into the top half of the Championship table, while Preston drop to the bottom of the standings after local rivals Burnley picked up a point at Wrexham.
Watford, who named 11 different nationalities in their starting line-up, went close to opening the scoring early on but Rocco Vata’s strike was beaten out at his near post by Preston goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.
Preston made their hosts pay soon after when Jordan Thompson’s shot from outside the box could only be pushed on to the post by Watford keeper Ravaglia and Lang bundled the ball in from close range.
Alfie Devine had a chance to double Preston’s lead but he swept his effort over the bar and the visitors really ought to have scored a second when Lang could only find Ravaglia following a fast, incisive counter-attack led by Johnny Kenny.
The forward went close again when his deflected effort curled just wide and, at the other end, Kevin Keben could only head an effort well off target from just a few yards out.