THE FA Cup dream may be over but Watford fans will still afford themselves a few smiles tonight (Saturday) after witnessing the return of talismanic striker Marlon King.

Despite rating King's prospects of facing the Premiership title favourites as 'no chance' in midweek, Watford boss Aidy Boothroyd showed his hand by naming King on the bench at Villa Park.

His return may have turned out to be none other than a morale-boosting sideshow, but the mere sight of King back in a yellow shirt was tantamount to mass hysteria for the 15,000-odd Hornets fans, the majority of them encamped in the Holte End.

The FA Cup is usually full of shocks and surprises and Boothroyd offered his attempt at outwitting Sir Alex Ferguson in the mind-game stakes by naming King in the squad.

Yet the Watford manager readily admitted in the post-match press conference that King is a world away from finding the form which saw him snaffle 22 goals in last season's promotion-winning campaign, despite being convinced to include him in the traveling party on Friday.

"I was at a funeral and I came home and the lads told me he'd done exceptionally well, so I asked him if he fancied it," said Boothroyd. "He was never going to play more than 15 minutes because to play him longer than that would have been reckless.

"He looked ring-rusty and wasn't his old self but I had a suspicion that had we made it 2-2 he might have come on and made it 3-2, but I guess I'm a bit of a dreamer. He wasn't in my thoughts in the week and you (the press) might have given me the idea (to play him) actually.

"You can weigh up the pros and cons whether it was the right thing to do but I asked him and I thought that was what the FA Cup is all about - a little bit of romance. The bloke has been out for a good few months and he comes on and might just poke one in, but it wasn't to be."

Bearing a smile as wide as the Watford Gap, King looked like a kid attending his first ever football match as he took in the atmosphere prior to kick-off.

Minutes into the match and the massed ranks of United followers taunted Watford fans with a rendition of 'you couldn't sell your tickets'. One suspects things might have been different had those stay-away fans known King was going to feature in the days leading up to the occasion.

King prowled the touchline several times before Boothroyd finally relented after United took a 3-1 lead. Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

If anyone was going to spearhead a Watford miracle it would be King in his prime, yet the effects of such a lengthy lay-off through injury were there for all to see.

Understandably carrying a little more weight than usual, King's first contribution was to be out-muscled by Wes Brown on the 18-yard box after collecting fellow substitute Steve Kabba's touchline pass.

His next act was to trudge gingerly back to his own half and bark encouragement at his defence after United substitute Kieran Richardson had beaten them and Richard Lee to complete the scoring.

With Ferguson's men expertly keeping possession, King could only watch in frustration. Yet when he finally received the ball after a United attack broke down, his raking cross-field pass to Tommy Smith was cut out by the tireless Wayne Rooney.

His final act of the afternoon was to retrieve the ball for Edwin van der Sar after Hameur Bouazza ballooned another shot wide of the target.

He may not have done a lot, or in fact been given a great deal to do, but King's return will give beleaguered Watford a shot in the arm as they go down to the Championship baring their teeth.