GARY Crosby praised the Derby County players for pulling through a sticky spell against Watford to make a winning start to their demanding programme of seven matches in 22 days.

Michael Tonge's superb strike gave the Rams a first-half lead but Watford upped their game after the break.

They asked questions of Derby, who dug in and Chris Porter's goal 13 minutes from time sealed a deserved 2-0 home win.

"You know the opposition are not going to let you just have it your own way," said Rams coach Crosby.

"I thought in the first half we played quite well and maybe could have got another goal at any time.

"Watford came out in the second half and went a little bit more direct and put us under pressure, which you expect and they are entitled to do.

"I thought we dealt with it well and in a funny way we looked more threatening on the break second half than we did with the possession we had first half.

"Watford's pressure started within 30 seconds of the restart, which doesn't help. They got a free kick and after 30 seconds we are under pressure and it seemed to go on for 10, 15, 20 minutes.

"But the players did what they had to do.

"Yes, we got a little bit of a break at times but we think we deserved that over the last few games.

"People might think you should not be under pressure at home but you can be. Teams have got a right to have a go at you and for different reasons you naturally drop off a few yards deeper than you should to protect your lead."

Watford boss Malky Mackay was unhappy that it was not until the second half that his team started to play.

"We are very disappointed because we didn't get started until after half-time," he said.

"Then we showed we could cause problems and create chances but we have got to start like that.

"The preparation was the same but for some reason we didn't come out of the traps. We've got to make sure we start at the same tempo as the opposition."

Derby face Reading and Doncaster away this week and they also have fixtures against Middlesbrough (home), Sheffield Wednesday (away), Queens Park Rangers (home) and Leicester City (away) this month.

Crosby agreed three points is a good way to start such a hectic programme but added: "Three points is nice at any time with any amount of games coming up."