Despite being dominant for large spells of the match, Scunthorpe eventually suffered a 2-1 defeat against Pompey, and just missed out on a place in the last four of the competition.
He said: “Obviously, it’s disappointing to have been beaten after going so far in the competition. All the lads are gutted but that’s football. We played well on the night. In the first half, I think we played well but just not at a tempo. We passed it along the back and weren’t going forward enough, putting it onto Portsmouth.
“In the second-half, we changed that and started going forward, playing some good football and I thought we shook them a little bit. Their second goal was just a suckerpunch against the run of play.
“We know we can beat any team in League One or League Two on our day, and we did play well in the second half, but ultimately it’s about getting results in a cup competition and we just were short on Tuesday.”
Watson has been back between the sticks since January 8th after Jake Eastwood was recalled from his loan spell by parent club Sheffield United, and he’s looking to build himself back up after what he admits was a difficult spell.
“It’s been a tough couple of months, I’m not going to lie. I’ve just been trying to get my confidence back up and put my stamp back in the team,” he said.
“Obviously, Jake did really well while he was here and we had that run where we did well as a team, but I’m just happy to be back out there trying to help the lads. I’m just hoping for more games now.”
Watson made an impressive save at 2-1 to deny John Marquis, and keep United in the game, but he was humble about the stop, adding: “It’s my job, as I always say. I don’t look into it too much. It’s just what I’m paid to do. All I want to do is help the team.”
Previewing the home League Two clash against Crewe Alexandra, Watson is hoping the team can build on two impressive performances in succession against Portsmouth and Bradford City prior in the league.
He said: “Crewe are a good side and like to play, passing the ball out. We weren’t at the races at their place (losing 3-1 in December) but were still in the game. If I didn’t make the mistake at 2-1, we maybe might have nicked something.
“I think, if we play well, we can give anyone a game in this league. Hopefully we can build on these two positive performances on Saturday.
“It has to be like that every game now. We need to have no fear and just play football our way, pass the ball, and move it forward quickly at a tempo. I think if we do that, we’ll have a really good chance.”
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