Hayden Mullins said his Watford Under-23s still need to tidy up some aspects of their game, despite thrashing Hull City U23s 5-0.

The lead U23 professional coach was pleased with his side's ruthless performance, but after the game insisted there was still work to be done.

"We're very happy because we had a tough start to pre-season and we got a lot better," said Mullins.

"It shows me and the other coaches that the boys are taking on board a lot of the information and a lot of the demand that is on them at the moment.

"After 5-0, obviously you probably think I'm nitpicking, but there are some little bits that we need to tidy up.

"The boys are going into a professional career and they're young, if they're to have a professional career, they want to have some really good habits. At times I think we were very good, but I think there's some bits we can tidy up.

"We need to make sure that we're professional the whole way through, whether we're 1-0 up or whether it's 0-0 or we're five or six up, it's got to be the same intensity, the same tempo and the same good habits."

Mullins thinks his players could learn a lot from the likes of Alex Jakubiak and Michael Folivi, who are currently both on loan at League One clubs.

The coach wants to see his development squad go on to become first-team regulars and believes his current squad are capable of achieving as much as they want, if they work hard enough.

"They can achieve whatever they set out to achieve," he said.

"Our main goal is trying to get lads into the first team or a first team. It's been terrific at the moment, we've got two lads playing in League One which is fantastic for us, Michael Folivi and Alex Jakubiak, are on two fantastic loans and whether we get them into our first team here, or we get them into a first team squad and maybe get them some really good experience playing men's football, is great.

"That's probably the next bit that we can't give them here, is that experience. We have them in the building, we educate them and try and get them into some really good habits and then the rest is down to them."

One player who could realistically be looking to make the break-through into first team football somewhere is Kane Crichlow, who scored twice against Hull and was also taken on the Hornets' pre-season trip to Austria, along with fellow youngster, Harry Forster.

Mullins said that kind of experience could be vital for players in the developmental squad, who face a competitive future trying to maintain a career as a professional.

"Kane's come in and done really well, so we're really happy," he said.

"Kane went away with the first team to Austria and he did really well, same with Harry Forster who went to Austria with the first team and earned himself an appearance against Ajax for 45 minutes.

"That kind of experience for those guys is vital. We can't give them that next bit of experience - on the pitch with first team players talking to them and helping them along and it is fantastic for them.

"The environment they're going to go into as a first team player at any level, is ultra-competitive.

"You're competing against your team mates then you go out on a Saturday and ultimately you're competing to win. We've got a really good group at the moment that we're trying to drive and daily we train and try and get them to a level where they're pushing each other.

"We all know that the numbers of players that jump into the first team are slim. That's not just here that's throughout the board.

"It's down to opportunity, it's down to where we are in the league maybe. A lot of factors come into it. All we can do is keep trying to work with them and push them daily and hopefully we'll get a couple over the line, if not here, they could be earning a trade at League One, the Championship or League Two. We try and get them into all walks off football."