Slaven Bilic refused to give West Ham players both barrels at half-time because they were already pale

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic was reluctant to give his players both barrels at half-time in their 4-2 defeat to Watford because he believed they already looked pale.

The Hammers went 2-0 up against the Hornets thanks to Michail Antonio's double, but surrendered their advantage in a dramatic five-minute spell before the interval.

Etienne Capoue and Jose Holebas heaped more misery on the Hammers after the break as they slumped to a third defeat in four Premier League fixtures.

And a frustrated Bilic revealed after the game he didn't want to hit out at his players, who he said were noticeably suffering having thrown away a comfortable lead.

"It's hard to explain," the West Ham manager said. "It was way too easy. If we defend like this we aren't going to win too many games because we scored enough and created enough," Bilic said.

"I am very angry. I am, I am. At half-time some of the players were already pale, so I didn't want to give them more criticism."

West Ham travel to West Brom on Saturday before returning to host Southampton at London Stadium the following weekend.