Chris Hughton acknowledged that Watford deserved to win after seeing Brighton lose 2-0 at Vicarage Road in their first Premier League game of the season.
Despite buying 10 new players this summer, Hughton named a team made up predominantly of players he had last season with only the Brazilian full-back Bernardo brought into the starting line-up.
It was surprising, therefore, that they produced such a disjointed and sluggish display and after failing to muster a shot on target, they could have no complaints about the result.
"I thought we were second best in most departments," Hughton admitted. "We had a good period 20-25 minutes before the end of the game but when we did get into good areas we weren't able to produce that quality.
"Watford deserved their victory and we've got a lot of work to do.
"I don't know why we were off the pace. Our preparation was probably the same as Watford's, we had a good week coming into the game, we probably didn't score enough goals in pre-season, but in regards to players being up to speed we've got no excuses.
"We were up against a Watford team who were better than us in most departments and when that happens you're vulnerable at this level."
Bernardo, signed from RB Leipzig, struggled to cope with the lively Roberto Pereyra, but two of Hughton's other new signings, Yves Bissouma and Alireza Jahanbakhsh offered promising cameos off the bench.
"We brought on two offensive players who we felt could make changes and I think did but although there were good moments from them, we couldn't do it as a team," Hughton said.
It doesn't get any easier for Brighton as they face Manchester United and Liverpool in their next two fixtures while they will also play Tottenham and Manchester City before the end of September.