Ben Foster has blamed naivety for Watford's late defeat to Aston Villa that saw them slip back into 19th place in the Premier League.

The Hornets keeper told the club website he and his team-mates were disappointed after putting in what he felt was a "workmanlike" performance.

“We’re very disappointed," he said.

"Fair play to Villa, they battled and maybe it was a little bit naïve from us. We were undone with the last kick of the game, we had to be workmanlike and not pretty. It was just a bit naïve.”

Foster felt Villa's winning goalscorer Tyrone Mings was fortunate to be on the pitch to apply a fortunate finishing touch to a move that won the game for the home side, but admitted Watford had grown tired and switched off before the end of the contest.

“The lads were all saying 'why not look at VAR', as I could see from where I was it was deliberate handball,” he said.

“But you can’t get involved or let it affect you, you have just got to get on with the game.

“We looked very tired at the end, we need to be alive for 95 minutes of the game. They were quicker than us in reacting on the edge of the box from that last free-kick.

“But we have raised our standards even when we do have blips. We have a good break now until the next Premier League game, hopefully we can get a few [of the injured] lads back and go again.”