Aidy's View: Accrington Stanley (h)

Watford manager, Aidy Boothroyd was quick to defend his team selection moments after seeing his side finally end the brave challenge of Coca-Cola League Two outfit, Accrington Stanley following a dramatic penalty shoot-out.

After making 11 changes to the line-up that had gained a meritorious goalless draw with Aston Villa in the Barclays Premiership on Saturday evening the Golden Boys boss said,

“I thought we put out a team that was capable of despatching Accrington Stanley but they came and played the game like it was a cup final. The result was two teams going at it hammer and tongs."

Recognising the tiny Cheshire side had run his fringe squad players right to the wire, the straight talking Boothroyd added,

"They were a very experienced team while we were inexperienced but hopefully the experience gained will help our youngsters for the future.

OK, we didn't manage to win the tie in 90 minutes or even 120 minutes but that's OK. The next time these players put on the yellow shirt, they will make sure they do some things differently.

The character and commitment is always there because, at this club, if that's not the case, they are out of the door. What we didn't have tonight was perhaps the sharpness and the fact that they hadn't played together before."

Boothroyd concluded by looking at the plusses from a long evening,

"There were some decent performances for us out there. We had a left back (Jordan Parkes) who has come in from the academy and done extremely well.

I made him take the fifth penalty because I wanted to put him under pressure to see what he's made of. I also thought Toumani Diagouraga did very, very well tonight.

Yes, there were players who were below par tonight but we'll deal with that tomorrow morning. Right now I'm focussing on those who did well tonight, Parkes, Diagouraga and Richard Lee."