Watford need more players who can do the basics well, says head coach Tom Cleverley.
The Hornets followed Saturday's 2-0 Championship win at Derby by being beaten 2-1 at home by mid-table Preston on Tuesday night.
"I've been promoted from this division and there is no future in giving a nine-out-of-10 performance on the Saturday and a two-out-of-10 on the Tuesday - you are better hitting seven every single game," Cleverley told BBC Three Counties Radio.
"The season we were promoted, we were a better than average team but our lowest performance was an average of six or seven out of 10 and we never went below that and that's by doing the basics.