Huddersfield Town crashed to their third defeat of the early Sky Bet Championship season when they were beaten 4-2 away to ten-man Watford today.

Nahki Wells, still not fully fit after suffering a kick to an ankle last week in the 1-1 draw at home to Charlton Athletic, could only watch from the substitutes’ bench as his side fell behind to a fifteenth-minute strike from Troy Deeney.

Leading the line for Huddersfield in place of Wells was James Vaughan, the former Everton striker whom the Bermudian has been itching to play alongside but who has been dogged by injury since last season. It was Vaughan’s first start of the season and his 150th in the Football League.

Vaughan carried a constant threat up front in partnership with Harry Bunn, and it was the youngster who brought the visiting side back on level terms three minutes into the second half, when he pounced on a handling error by Heurelho Gomes.

But no sooner had Huddersfield found parity than Watford had them chasing the game again, with Almen Abdi netting the first of his double after Bunn scuffed an attempted clearance.

Vaughan had a penalty claim turned down and a Bunn header was cleared off the line before Murray Wallace headed into an empty net on the hour after Gomes came for a corner and got it wrong — reprising the sort of errors that cost him his place at Tottenham Hotspur under Harry Redknapp.

Huddersfield were almost immediately given an additional boost when Gabriel Tamas, the Watford defender, was sent off for a second yellow card. But four minutes after Tamas was sent for an early shower, the home side went in front for a third time, Keith Andrews heading in from a corner to continue Huddersfield’s woes in defending at set-pieces.

Wells, who was rested for the Capital One Cup defeat by Nottingham Forest in midweek, was summoned from the bench in place of Vaughan with 17 minutes to go and his impact was almost immediate. But unlike Huddersfield, who failed to stay the course with ten men against Charlton, Watford showed the resilience that comes with confidence having made such a bright start to the season.

Wells had already tested Gomes with a shot from distance before he had a stinging drive well saved in the third minute of stoppage time. Then Watford hit Huddersfield on the break, with Abdi scoring to give the final scoreline a slightly flattering look.

Huddersfield slip one place in the Championship to 21st and head into a two-week break to regroup.