Aidy Boothroyd admitted Richard Lee was fortunate to still be on the pitch to save the first of his two penalties at Southampton this afternoon, but praised the keeper for his pivotal contribution in earning Watford their 3-0 victory.

“I think he was,” replied the Hornets boss when asked if Lee was lucky not to be dismissed by referee Trevor Kettle for his foul on David McGoldrick after just three minutes. “I’ve seen referees give sending offs for that, but I think Wardy or Bromby was just level with him which I think made Trevor make the decision that he did. And I’m thankful that he did do that for us because it’s a very poor start again.

“We seem to need a cause. A goal that isn’t, a goal against us and we just seem to be better when we’ve got a problem, so I’m going to have to tell the players that we’re 1-0 down, I think, before we go out for every game. Either that or throw a load of water over them.”

Turning to the second spot-kick, awarded when Adrian Mariappa barged over Ryan Smith, Boothroyd said: “I thought that was a bit harsh, but I can see if you make contact in the box with somebody there’s always a chance, but, again, Richard stood up and saved it so he’s won us the points today, definitely.”