The Midlands club gave themselves a good chance to reach the Europa Conference League semi finals.
However, Watkins felt that 2-0 was a better scoreline to take to the return leg in France.
Advertisement
Advertisement
"I have a belief that I'm gonna score and the team are gonna play well," he told TNT Sports after the game.
"We have a game plan and we stick to it no matter what.
"I've got my goal here, but it was important that we won the game and then go into the second leg a goal up. Obviously, we conceded at the end which is a little bit disappointing. Gave him a little bit of belief going into the second game.
"I felt like we could have been a bit more clinical in the final third, you know, I could slip Morgan (Rogers) in there. We've had a lot of opportunities. I think 2-1 is a bit disappointing. I think it should be three or four."