Last Updated: Sat, 07 Jan 2012 18:27
Sean Dyche was pleased Watford's preparation paid off as they safely progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 4-2 win against Bradford.
The Hornets manager, who once played in an FA Cup semi-final with Chesterfield, stressed the importance of the task at hand to his players and was rewarded. Watford raced into an early lead through Troy Deeney but were pegged back by James Hanson's strike as the Bantams proved more than a match for their hosts in the opening stages.
But Marvin Sordell's 10th goal of the campaign sent Dyche's men in with the half-time advantage before Forsyth's double secured their place in the fourth round, despite Nahki Wells' late consolation.
Dyche believed his side had got their just reward for the hard work they had put in. He said: "The lads know how seriously we took this. I've played in this competition and we had a run of turning teams over and I know what the preparation is for the team and particularly in this game because teams have got nothing to lose and everything to gain when you're a lower division club coming to a higher division club.
"We prepared for this really well and the performance the lads gave, I'm really, really pleased with it because they were a strong side and made it difficult for us for parts of the game."
Dyche continued: "We wanted to work and make sure we were planning to not be one of those horrible statistics and teams come to make it difficult anyway. I thought their resolve was good. They went down to an early goal, we gave away a soft goal by our standards, and then we really gripped the game and I was really pleased with that."
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