Nobody will be kicking themselves harder than Jack Grealish that he didn't get on the scoresheet on Saturday night.
Playing as the tip of Manchester City's attack, he should have had a hat-trick and could have had more than that in the 3-1 win at Vicarage Road but Daniel Bachmann and the Watford defence were more than a match for the forward to leave him without an away goal since his £100m summer transfer.
Pep Guardiola wasn't too bothered afterwards, mind. He knows that there are no consistently clinical finishers in his squad given the absence of a centre-forward, yet he also is satisfied that they usually have enough to win most of the games they need to. Others stepped up at the weekend, and the expectation is that Grealish will not have too many more days where he is as bad as that in front of goal.
More important to the manager was how the former Villa man played. Having lost his place for the Manchester derby and then suffered an injury in the November international break, it had been nearly a month since Grealish's last appearance in a City shirt when he was tasked with coming on for the final five minutes in midweek and seeing out the win over his boyhood club.
Such a substitution could have further whipped up the home supporters but instead the player's touch took the sting out of the whole game as he enjoyed conducting everything at his own tempo.
Given Guardiola's particular love for that quality, playing as a No.9 can neutralise those talents as it is left to others to bring the ball forwards; when Grealish played the role at Anfield at the beginning of October he managed just 29 touches. However, the manager predicted that whoever was up front would see more against Watford and so - before making his team selection - asked the 26-year-old if he wanted to be used in a role that would see him getting plenty of the ball.
Even if he didn't get a goal, the England international certainly looks to have enjoyed what he has been asked to do over the last week and he was the player that lingered longest applauding the away end on Saturday after another appreciative reception from the travelling supporters.
For all his authority at the club, Guardiola can be remarkably democratic. Listening to Gabriel Jesus describe his preference for playing out wide rather than centrally this season has paid off, and with the whole squad fit there is more room to accommodate what Grealish is best at.
There will be bigger tests than Watford ahead and competition for places has never been stronger with Raheem Sterling now flying again, but as he returns from injury Grealish could well find better opportunities than he was able to have in the first part of the season.
