Watford manager Slaven Bilic bemoaned his side’s lack of incisiveness in a 1-1 draw with Rotherham at Vicarage Road which damaged their automatic promotion hopes.

Joao Ferreira’s 53rd-minute equaliser cancelled out Shane Ferguson’s close-range opener for Rotherham, but the Hornets are now 13 points adrift of second-placed Sheffield United and a further five behind leaders Burnley.

Bilic said: “I’m disappointed with the result, obviously. The plan was to win, no matter how difficult every game is, especially in the Championship.

“We started well, especially on the right side, and I told the players I can’t ask more from them at the moment, but we are missing enough quality in the middle of the park and especially up front.

“The majority of our top players are not on the pitch and we can’t rely on the kids to be consistent week in, week out.

“So many times today we were one against one in promising situations facing the opponent and then it’s all about quality.

“Up until those top players come back, we have to fight and win as many points as we can.”

Bilic at least found a positive in Ferreira’s goal, which was struck hard and true into the bottom corner from 20 yards.

“It was a great goal by Ferreira,” said the Watford boss. “A great strike and he scored at a good time when there was still enough time for us to win the game and to lift us up, but Rotherham created the best chance after that.

“We didn’t convert our situations and didn’t end up with the chances where their defenders had to make a foul or something. It wasn’t enough.

“You can call it killer instinct, you can call it decision-making, you can call it quality, that’s all part of it. Every one of our guys has it, but in those 90 minutes today it was missing. It’s clear as sky, simple as that.

“So we’re disappointed with the result but every point counts.”

By contrast, Rotherham manager Matt Taylor welcomed with the result to follow last week’s 4-0 victory over another promotion-chasing side in Blackburn.

Taylor said: “We’ve got to believe we can achieve something when we come to these clubs otherwise there’s no point coming here. Watford’s squad is stronger than ours.

“I’m really pleased with the performance. The commitment’s spot on at the moment. The effort’s there. We have to make the opposition work hard for everything we get. It’s just a question of quality.

“People look at the squads and say that we shouldn’t be competing in this league but we are. We deserve to be in this competition.”

Taylor praised debutant Tariqe Fosu, who joined on loan from Premier League Brentford in midweek, and also the experienced defensive combination of fellow January acquisitions Sean Morrison and Lee Peltier, for so long team-mates at Cardiff City.

Taylor added: “We had the best chance to win the game with Tariqe. If that goes in, it’s almost a perfect debut. But we’ll go home satisfied in spite of what might have been.

“He’s a good quality player, so he has to fit in here. He’s someone who’s a little bit different to what we’ve got. He can beat a player and he can get that ball exactly where he wants it.

“Sean Morrison and Lee Peltier have played together an awful lot in their careers so they understand each other’s game. That’s helping Cam Humphreys alongside Sean.

“Players that were feeling a little more shaken with their games are almost immediately feeling a little bit more comfortable by having those experienced players around them.

“We have to know what we are and we’ve re-found a bit of our identity, something that was missing up until the last couple of games.

“We make it uncomfortable for the opposition and it’s my job to now add structure and quality to that starting block.

“We have to have more players available, so we’ll try to get a couple more players in the building to help us. It’s good that we’ve got next weekend off.”