Sebastian Prödl says the disappointment Watford’s players felt following their 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace was “the right emotion” but adds the narrow defeat will quickly be forgotten by the Hornets squad.

Yohan Cabaye’s second half penalty settled a tight contest at Vicarage Road yesterday afternoon and consigned the Golden Boys to their first home defeat of the Premier League campaign.

The match itself was one of fine margins. Had Jose Manuel Jurado’s excellent free-kick found the net instead of rattling the crossbar then the post-match discussion could have been about how the Hornets extended their winning run to three games.

Instead the momentum Quique Sanchez Flores’ men had built up with back-to-back wins against Swansea City and Newcastle United has been halted.

Prödl was composed when speaking to the media after the game. The giant Austrian centre-back expressed his disappointment with the final result but insisted Watford would not dwell on the defeat.

“Today we are disappointed but we have to focus again,” the 28-year-old said. “In the Premier League there are 38 games and one game doesn’t decide if you stay in the league or not.

“We have to be creative this week and analyse Bournemouth’s game. We have to be prepared. Of course ten minutes after a defeat it doesn’t feel good but that is the right emotion. We are not happy with the result or what we were doing. We have to improve.

“But it was just one defeat and it wasn’t a clear defeat. They weren’t a stronger team than us which is what we have to focus on.

“Today we can be disappointed but tomorrow we have to create self-confidence again for the game next weekend.”

Palace, who have won nine of their last 12 away matches, became the first visiting team to net at Vicarage Road in the Premier League when Cabaye successfully fired his spot kick past Gomes.

The Golden Boys defence has yet to be breached from open play at home, however. Although that was little consolation for Prödl.

“We lost the game so it doesn’t matter if it is a goal from a penalty, corner or a set-piece,” he said. “We were beaten and that is disappointing. We are working hard to keep the defence as strong as possible at home. At the moment the statistics are not important.”

While Watford’s defence has been miserly at Vicarage Road the Hornets have found it difficult to turn the chances they’ve had at the other end of the field into goals.

“It isn’t like we are a humble team at home,” Prödl explained. “We have chances but we just don’t take them. It wasn’t our best day [against Palace] but we also had opportunities to score. Unfortunately it [scoring goals] hasn’t happened as much at Vicarage Road.

“We are disappointed but tomorrow we will start focusing on Bournemouth. Today we lost against a strong opponent. That is it.”