Adrian Boothroyd praised the "mental strength" of striker Steve Kabba after his goal set Watford on their way to a 3-0 home win over Wolves.Kabba headed in after a long throw from Leigh Bromby after just 59 seconds and a second-half brace inside two minutes from winger Tommy Smith sealed a win for the Hornets which lifts them back into the automatic promotion spots.

Kabba had not scored since an FA Cup defeat to Colchester with former club Sheffield United in January 2006 and has found himself fifth-choice striker at Vicarage Road for the majority of the season.

But after top-scorer Marlon King's £3million move to Wigan and fitness problems with Darius Henderson and Collins John, Kabba has been handed another chance by Boothroyd.

Boothroyd said: "Some players you leave them out and they get fat and lazy but he's a good professional and he's earned the right to be back in the reckoning.

"He was great at Sheffield United and I'm delighted he got a goal.

"It's a long season and sometimes it's about sticking in there. It says a lot about his mental strength to keep going and he could have easily not put the work in on the training ground.

"But he has always worked hard and deserves his chance."

Mick McCarthy's side won 4-1 in the same fixture just seven days ago in the FA Cup fourth round and Boothroyd admitted he was delighted to reply to that result.

He was particularly pleased with the contributions of deadline day signings Bromby and John Eustace.

He said: "I'm very, very pleased with the result especially after last week when Wolves thoroughly deserved to go through.

"We got the early goal which opened them up and the strikers we had all provided different problems.

"I was thrilled with the performances of Bromby and Eustace. They calmed the game down when everyone else was getting excited.

"Leigh has this long throw but he's a lot more than that. He is a good size and he reads it well and I'm very happy to get him

"Wolves had a lot of possession and after they scored four last week I was worried but we got goals at important times."

Wolves looked bright throughout - with winger Matty Jarvis particularly impressive - but they lacked the cutting edge to test Watford goalkeeper Richard Lee.

McCarthy admitted that his side's first-half performance after the early setback was pleasing but was ultimately left to rue poor defending from set-pieces.

He said: "We had an awful start. To be 1-0 down in the first minute is dreadful but our reaction to that was terrific.

"We played excellently in the first half and perhaps should have got back into it.

"The second half wasn't going anywhere until we conceded from a corner and then it was a done deal.

"They defended particularly well but we struggled to pick the right pass at the right times in the final third.

"After the second goal they deserved to win and it's the last 25 minutes of the game which have cost us.

"We had a lot of players who didn't perform and there was an element of payback and revenge from the 4-1."

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