Watford caretaker boss Hayden Mullins was delighted with the players after their 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace.

The former midfielder will return to his post in charge of the Under-23s following the appointment of Nigel Pearson as head coach and his two-game stint ended with a point against Palace.

He said, "We knew Crystal Palace would come here, they would frustrate us for long periods. We know they're the kind of side who sit quite deep and they've got some very good players who can hit you on the counter-attack. We knew that but we also knew we needed to try and get the win and try and open the game, albeit not getting done on the counter.

“We tried a different game-plan from the other day. In the first half it was quite even, but in the second half we were the ones on the front foot and we were pushing them back for large periods of the game but we didn't really get any clear-cut chances, which we looked at and it's a little bit disappointing really.

“It was a great performance, the lads gave absolutely everything and I'm sure we'll go again next week."