Cardiff 2-1 Watford

Brendan Rodgers has urged his Watford side to put their double penalty agony behind them and begin the task of becoming a promotion force for next season.

The Hornets were last night left stunned by a last-minute decision that allowed Ross McCormack to snatch a 2-1 victory for Cardiff from the penalty spot with the last kick of the game.

The decision carried painful echoes of Watford's clash with Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, when the visitors snatched a point with a spot-kick at the death at Vicarage Road.

Watford had gone ahead through Tommy Smith's 10th-minute penalty but their lead lasted just four minutes.

But while the Watford manager was furious at his side's misfortune, he insisted the priority now was to set the standard for the start of next season. Rodgers said: "It was a harsh result but performance-wise we were okay. You would be hard-pushed on that display to say we are a team who are struggling.

"But obviously we are not because in the last couple of months we have been excellent.

"We are going into every game now to try to win. I want to finish this season how we start next season.

"I want the pressure to win every game. And when we get top the games, we won't sit back and take it easy. We have eight games and I want to win every game.

"And you can see tonight that we have the possibility to win every game because of the quality within our group."

Jay Bothroyd cancelled out Smith's opener but Watford appeared to have held on for a point until Roger Johnson's goalbound header struck Ross Jenkins in the final minute. Cardiff insisted the ball had hit Jenkins's arm but the Watford man was adamant it had struck his chest.

Rodgers added: "We are disappointed but I am learning very quickly in my managerial career. I used to watch managers talking about referees and how they have affected the result. I'm one who focuses on the performance of my team and their qualities.

"But in the last two games it has been really difficult to do that and not talk about referees because it has cost us in those games. The linesman said it wasn't a penalty, which was interesting. Hence the reaction of our players running back to the referee, asking him to go and consult with his linesman.

"And he went over and told him but he has overruled it. And it was the opposite on Saturday, in the seventh minute of injury time the linesman gave a penalty but the referee didn't - so we have been harshly done-by on two occasions."

With five points still separating Watford form the bottom three, Rodgers can move one step closer to safety when they travel to Ipswich on Saturday.

"We will move on again this weekend," he said.

"We have been excellent during the last two months. You would have thought there were two top-six teams playing out there tonight.

"The officials have let us down but I am not going to cry. We have enough quality in the group and we will move on. We will rebuild confidence and look forward to Saturday's game."