Watford Under-18s boss David Horseman preferred to focus on the positives after his side were dumped out of the FA Youth Cup by a superior Norwich City side last night.

Despite admitting the Hornets were beaten by a "much better team", Horseman pointed out the Category 1 Canaries, a level above their hosts, had been a tough draw for his side.

His young Watford side were soundly beaten 5-1 at Vicarage Road to extend their winless run in the competition to four years, with the club's last victory – in 2013/14 – ironically coming against then cup-holders Norwich.

"Obviously it was a disappointing result and performance on the whole," he said. "A couple of our boys after the first half an hour competed and showed glimpses. What we’ll take from it is it being a brilliant learning experiences.

"We’re looking for individuals we’re not looking to produce teams, but there’s one or two there who with some physical development will be good players. We were just second best by a mile.

"They’re a Category 1 academy and we’re Category 2, and obviously there’s a difference. Our boys are aspiring to be Premier League or professional footballers, and they see the level now.

"Even if some of ours could compete technically, there’s a physical element they have to improve on, and that’s part of their long-term development.

"There’s some great individuals, maybe as a team it would be nice to have a better one; but we’re not trying to produce teams, we’re trying to produce players. There’s one or two who in a year or two might be able to do some good things."

The first three goals came across a six-minute spell before the break and could have seen the Hornets concede more; but they hung on until the 80th minute before falling further behind, matching Norwich for much of the second half.

Horseman was left surprised by the quality of his players' reaction, but admitted the scoreline had influenced the momentum of the game.

He said: "We could have completely capitulated, but what we have now is a great learning opportunity when we look at the game. There’s certain things we can focus on.

"We’ll put on some individual sessions and group sessions. They’re young players, there’s a long way to go and you see people like Jamie Vardy who are late bloomers and that happens all the time.

"Before the first goal yes they were better but they weren’t carving us open. The reaction was better than I was expecting, but they are 3-0 up and managing the game and the tempo is different and the pressure off.

"I thought the boys reacted pretty positively and in the last 10 minutes, we’re chasing the game and a bit tired, it can happen."