Investment is now vital

But he'd better whip round to her house with a bunch of roses and a bottle of bubbly or risk seeing his injury-hit squad become even more threadbare.

But some shocking officiating by referee Matt Messias hardly helped anybody. His decision to allow Brian Jensen to lie prostrate on the ground after a challenge with Darius Henderson for almost a minute before allowing the medical staff on was as potentially dangerous as it was controversial.

Despite that, the difference between the two sides can be summed up in one word - investment.

Last season, Watford just managed to stay up, whereas Cotterill worked wonders with his wafer-thin squad to finish in mid-table.

But Hornets boss Adrian Boothroyd has been able to invest a modest amount and now the future's as bright as Watford's golden shirts.

Watford have become the Liverpool of the Championship, seemingly signing up everyone who walks past the ground.

Seven permanant signings, two of those - Malky Mackay and Matthew Spring were made on the eve of the game - have bolstered the Hornets squad in both quantity and quality.

But a glance down the short Clarets squad list tells a very different story. It was a good job the Watford programme editor isn't up on the latest Championship news or the omission of Artim Sakiri's name from the squad list would have made it even shorter.

But take nothing away from the battling Clarets. With three boys, and I mean boys, making their full debuts Burnley were always up against it but showed the fighting qualities that their fans demanded.

Karl Bermingham, Kyle Lafferty and Chris McCann were all thrown into the Hornets' nest as Cotterill struggled to get 11 on the pitch but none of them let their manager down.

But the Clarets found it hard going against a Watford side with a new belief.

They cut Burnley to ribbons at times with some lovely flowing football.

But in terms of chances, Ben Foster in the Watford goal was far the busier - though some may argue that he shouldn't have been on the field at all after he was adjudged to have brought Ade Akinbiyi down when he was through on goal early on.

You can only feel that Burnley's luck is bound to change sooner rather than later. With an entire defence injured, Cotterill needs to work some of his west country magic.

But on Saturday, despite adversity, the Clarets were far from disgraced.

Watford showed their capabilities as early as the seventh minute when Paul Devlin outwitted Garreth O'Connor down the right and swung over a cross but the ball just glanced off Marlon King's forehead with the goal at his mercy six yards out after seven minutes.

But just a minute later brought the first scrambling stop from Foster when Garreth O'Connor's free kick came back off the wall but the ball broke to his namesake James who fired a shot through the wall but the Watford stopper was equal to it.

Watford took the lead on 11 minutes when King made amends for his earlier miss. Malky Mackay stuck a ball some 50 yards into the path of King who had to avoid the attentions of his strike partner Henderson before lashing a shot past Jensen from a narrow angle.

Three minutes later, however, referee Messias made his first controversial decision. Akinbiyi beat the offside trap to latch onto a flick-on from Gifton Noel-Williams but his first touch pushed the ball too far in front of him and encouraged Foster to make a challenge.

The Hornets stopper looked to have got the ball fairly but Messias had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Football rules would seem to dictate that a red card should have shortly followed the award of the penalty but the fact that his card remained in his pocket speaks volumes for the decision.

As well as the battle between the two sides, Clarke Carlisle and Akinbiyi were involved in their own personal war, which threatened to spill over at times.

But when he was able to shake off the attentions of the Watford defender, the Clarets hitman was still causing problems and again brought a good stop from Foster after springing the offside trap again.

The Burnley medical staff got another client when Frank Sinclair was the first player to be stretchered off after tweaking a hamstring trying to block a Dominic Blizzard shot.

Sinclair was replaced by Lafferty and in the aftermath, Chris McCann went to left back and Branch moved to centre half as Cotterill tried to shuffle his rapidly diminshing pack.

But just when you thought your luck couldn't get any worse - it did. Just after the half hour Gavin Mahon's shot from the edge of the area took a wicked deflecion off Branch and the ball looped over a helpless Jensen.

It was cruel on Cotterill's crew but indicative of their fortunes at the moment, but they never gave up.

Branch tested Foster with a fierce drive from 30 yards but the Watford keeper saved comfortably

And eight minutes from time, Foster produced a superb flying stop from a Noel-Williams' volley from just outside the box.

But the match's main talking point came six minutes from the end when Jensen and Henderson collided going for a ball on the edge of the area.

Jensen immediately went down clutching his throat but the referee allowed play to go on and Henderson tried to slot the ball into the open goal.

But with Jensen lying motionless on the floor, Henderson's shot whizzed across the goalmouth and Paul Devlin was able to chase the ball down and put the ball back in.

And after a bit of penalty box pinball, debutant Matthew Spring fired the ball home from 10 yards.

Only once the ball hit the back of the net were the medical staff allowed on to the field. And after a break of several minutes, it was a disturbing sight to see the great Dane carried off with his neck in a brace.

It was an even sadder sight to see him being carted off to hospital with an oxygen mask on after the match.

But, as they say, the show must go on and let's hope Cotterill can get back into Lady Luck's good books before it's too late.

jkayley@the-let.co.uk