Watford manager Javi Gracia admits his side were not good enough after falling to a third successive defeat on Saturday and insists they must find an improvement sooner rather than later.

The Hornets currently prop up the Premier League table following their 3-1 loss against West Ham at Vicarage Road. They were behind just minutes into the clash when Mark Noble stroked home a penalty and Sebastien Haller added a brace after Andre Gray had pulled one back.

Watford, who are priced at 3.80 to be relegated, were fancied to battle for a spot in the top 10 this season but they are already playing catch up on their rivals after some extremely disappointing performances.

Gracia will be feeling the pressure after just three games but he has belief that he can turn things around over the next few weeks. “I know in this moment we are all disappointed: the supporters, the players, all of us,” Gracia told Watford’s website.

“It’s in this moment we have to believe and deal with it. We know after the defeats we need to change and do something as what we have done is not enough. We need to improve something. I know it.” The Spaniard feels Watford are lacking balance, having been without striking ace Tory Deeney, and has stressed the need to be more clinical after they converted just one of their 23 attempts against the Hammers.

He added: “We know we can improve and we have to improve the balance. If we had 23 shots and only three on target, that says something about the attack and that we need to improve and to be more precise, more clinical. Defending, we need to defend better at set-pieces.”