Conceding a penalty so quickly after half-time was probably the moment that changed the course of last night’s FA Cup tie.

And on the face of it, the challenge by Antonio Tikvic that left Adama Traore on the floor was silly and very avoidable.

• "We need a club where we are all supporting each other"

• Fulham 4 Watford 1 minute-by-minute report

However, should the young and inexperienced defender have been put in that position in the first place?

Having largely gone long from goal kicks, the first one of the second half was played short, Edo Kayembe appeared to be caught flat-footed and lost possession, which subsequently put Tikvic under immediate pressure.

“Every time one of our players makes a mistake I also take responsibility for it, because I want them to play with risk,” said Tom Cleverley.

“But I also look at how good the support was around the ball.

“So I put a real emphasis on how many options has he got close to him to pass to.

“If that is very little, then I’ll also put an emphasis on why is there not enough support around the ball.

“It looks a real mistake from Tikvic at the time but I also place responsibility on the players around him.”

Having worked hard to still be in the game after a first-half which Fulham dominated on every metric, conceding a poor penalty was Watford shooting themselves in the foot.

“It’s the timing of it, and it’s a really soft goal to concede,” Cleverley admitted.

“That has been a little bit of our problem recently.

“I thought structurally we looked really solid today but then gifted them a goal.

“It is a big learning curve for Tikvic today – I thought he was excellent in the first half and we know he has really good quality in his left foot, he has a good physique and he is fairly quick.

“But sometimes he does just have a lapse in concentration and that’s the part of his game he will need to improve upon to become a top defender.”

Down the other end of the pitch, another young player continued to pump up his CV as Rocco Vata scored a contender for goal of the round in the FA Cup, and possibly goal of the competition.

“It was a fantastic goal,” Cleverley enthused.

“Rocco has this real knack for scoring different types of goals, and he practises his finishing a lot.

“The five or 10-yard ones inside the box are the ones that really impress me because he has a real hunger to arrive in the box.

“But then on the other hand he has those fantastic strikes within him and that burst of speed to get him away from the defence.

“How clean the strike was is really impressive.”