The Republic of Ireland striker has called on his team-mates to get back to basics during the international break and identify what has gone wrong.

"We are going through a bad patch, that's for sure," he said after playing the second half of the game at Vicarage Road – North End's fourth straight defeat.

"So maybe the break has come at a good point so we can regroup and see what has changed.

"I can't put my finger on what is happening right now. But we are obviously shipping too many goals.

"We defend as a team, so it is down to all of us to sort that out."

Preston got themselves in front through Sean St Ledger against a struggling Watford side before two more howlers at the back handed their opponents the game.

Manager Alan Irvine described the defending for both goals as 'terrible'.

North End have now conceded 10 in those four-consecutive defeats, in stark contrast to only four in their previous six in the league.

Irvine has vowed to get to the bottom of why a side so miserly at the start of the season is now leaking like a sieve.

And Elliott is confident the problems can be ironed out during a tough fortnight of self-examination on the training pitch.

"We have all got to sit down together, the staff and the players, and try to figure out what has gone wrong and then put it right," he said. "In general we have just not been at the races.

"We have been letting teams in too easily over the last couple of weeks and that is something that has got to stop.

"The manager is obviously not happy. But we know ourselves that we haven't been playing well.

"Everyone in the dressing room is disappointed and we have got to put a stop to it as quickly as possible.

"Sometimes when you are going through a bad patch you want games to come along quickly so you can get it sorted. But at the moment I think the gaffer will be happy we have got a break so we can get together and see what we have been doing wrong.

"These things happen to teams. When you lose one game then you lose a couple more straight after.

"But hopefully the lads are big and bold enough to figure out what's going wrong and put a stop to it.

"I don't think it is a confidence thing. I think we are quite
confident when we are going into games.

"It's just a few silly things that we need to stop doing.

"Maybe we need to get back to basics and stop people playing against us and the rest will look after itself. But I'm sure we will sort it out."

With the Hornets having lost their sting this season and on a run of only one point from their previous five games, Preston went to Hertfordshire believing they could end their poor run.

And after defender St Ledger stroked home the opening goal after less than five minutes with a coolness that his striker team-mates are currently failing to show, it looked like normal service was about to be resumed.

Ross Wallace, starting his first league game for North End, provided the cross, St Ledger headed it into the middle, it came back to him and he picked his spot past keeper Richard Lee.

But Watford carved Preston open with worrying ease and it was little surprise they had turned the match round by half-time.

Both goals came down the middle with Tamas Priskin, on loan at Deepdale last season, put Jon Harley through for the equaliser on 12 minutes.

And nine minutes after that the defence parted like the Red Sea a second time to allow Tommy Smith a clear run at goal. Andrew Lonergan saved the first shot, but the striker gobbled up the rebound.

Had it not been for timely interventions by full-backs Jay McEveley and Billy Jones (twice) in front of goal and a good stop by Lonergan the home side could have been out of sight by the interval.

The second half was all Preston with Watford forced on to the back foot and defending for their lives, aided by the club's ball boys who were clearly under instructions to slow the visitors down whenever they won a throw.

In the end North End's lack of a cutting edge up front – five of their six strikers have yet to open their accounts this season – meant the home side were able to hold out for their first league win since August. At least Elliott, whose 45-minute appearance was his longest so far for PNE, had three goal attempts.

His first was fired straight at the keeper, the second was beaten out and the third was deflected by a defender's boot.

"Maybe I should have done better with the first one," he admitted.

"But I haven't played much football over the last couple of months and hopefully, if I can play a bit more, I will put chances away like that.

"Obviously I would like to play more games and maybe I will get a bit of a run.

"I thought in the second half we gave it a bit of a go, but it wasn't to be.

"We had got ourselves in front and we thought, with Watford not going through a great spell of late, that it was an opportunity for us to halt our run of defeats.

"But it all changed around pretty quickly and it obviously wasn't good enough.

"Hopefully with a lot of work on the training ground over the next two weeks we can turn it round.

"We want to get back to playing like we did at the start of the
season."