Chris Wilder: Watford need consistency to force way into Championship play-offs

Chris Wilder took over as Watford head coach on 7 March

Finding consistency will be the key to Watford's chances of forcing their way past at least six other teams to reach the play-offs, says boss Chris Wilder.

They are 12th in the Championship, with four games remaining, following their 2-0 victory over Bristol City.

It was only Wilder's second win in seven matches since replacing Slaven Bilic as Hornets head coach.

"We haven't shown consistency from game to game, and we haven't shown consistency during games," he said.

"There's some stuff we're really loose on that frustrates the life out of me because players put themselves in positions that they don't need to - but we needed a performance and we needed a result, more importantly, and we got that."

The win came at the end of a tough week for former Sheffield United and Middlesbrough boss Wilder, following speculation about his position at Vicarage Road.

Watford described it as "totally disrespectful" and he told BBC Three Counties Radio it had been a "difficult period - and a difficult period for the supporters as well for quite a while now".

Wilder was concerned that his side were not as positive as he felt they should have been after taking an early lead though Harry Cornick's own goal.

"The lack of experience in that team in terms of the [Tom] Cleverleys, in terms of the [Dan] Goslings, that would settle everything down, take a pass, make the right decisions, that's not been there," he said.

But Wilder was delighted by the performance of 18-year-old Ryan Andrews, who played 85 minutes in only his second league appearance for the club.

"He didn't do a lot wrong for me, he had energy, he had power, he had pace, he was positive, he took the ball up the pitch, he picked out some good passes and he defended really well.

"He was a proper defender and to keep clean sheets you've got to have more of them," he added.

Watford's next game is also at home, against Cardiff City on Wednesday, and they face trips to Hull City and Sunderland before returning to Vicarage Road to end the season against Stoke.