Birmingham City manager Lee Clark claims he would have allowed Watford to score on Saturday had his side profited from unsportsmanlike behaviour at a throw-in - which Paul Robinson blamed on poor communication from the referee.

The Hornets kicked the ball out of play during the second half of Saturday's 1-0 win at St Andrew's after Cristian Battocchio was tripped off the ball.

Referee Paul Tierney accused Battocchio of going down too easily and former Hornet Robinson subsequently threw the ball to his team-mate Lee Novak who may have scored had it not been for a fine recovery tackle by Lloyd Doyley.

Almen Abdi, who had kicked the ball out of play, was furious and had a scuffle with some of the Birmingham players and there were also arguments between the two management teams.

Robinson said: "I hold my hands up and apologise because they kicked the ball out and the referee told him (Battocchio) to get up and said to throw it. That was where the confusion came from.

"If the referee had just said to me [to throw it back to a Watford player] or their trainer had come on, then I would have [thrown it back to a Watford player]. It was miscommunication with the referee.

"I apologised to Zola afterwards because I was only going off what the referee told me; to take the throw-in like normal.

"This is what we need to sort out between referees and players; we need to have that communication because if it had been another game and we had scored then what would we have done about it? Would we have let Watford score? We need to have sportsmanship and do it that way but we need to stop all the confusion and get things sorted out.

"The player got straight back up so we assumed we would take a quick throw-in."

Birmingham's manager Clark has often said complimentary things regarding Watford and their head coach Gianfranco Zola.

He apologised to the Watford boss and stated he would have let the visitors walk the ball into the net had Novak equalised from the throw-in.

Clark said: "Paul, in the heat of the moment, has thrown the ball in and if Lee had gone on to score they would’ve been frustrated.

"I apologised to Gianfranco straight away because that is not what I’m about. I automatically thought we’d throw it back because they had kicked the ball out.

"It got a little bit heated but anyone who knows us, knows I’m not like that. If we had scored I would make sure we allow the opposition to put it in the net because that is not sportsmanship.

"I am not saying anything against my lads because they were caught up in the heat of the moment.

"It was nothing really and it just got a little bit silly. But it wouldn’t have been an issue no matter what."

When asked if he agreed with Clark's comment regarding letting Watford score, Robinson replied: "I think sportsmanship has to come into the game. We have to respect his (Clark's) decision and if the manager tells us to do that then we would do that. It is respectful."

"I think we gave Watford a right good game from start to finish today and we could have taken a point or all three," Robinson added regarding the game as a whole.

"For their goal, I think there was a lack of communication at the back where Forestieri was playing in that hole where sometimes defenders can't go. It was a bit of brilliance from the two players linking well.

"Apart from that I thought we controlled the game and could have had a few more chances. That is football but we can take a lot of positives from how we performed as a team."

Watford Observer:

Robinson came through the ranks at Watford and made 254 appearances for the club before he joined West Bromwich Albion in 2003.

Known for his tough tackling, Robinson was not impressed with some of the Watford players' perceived theatrics.

He said: "There has been a lot of change at Watford. I think as the season goes on they will be strong but we have pushed them and given them a good match and we were unlucky to come away having lost.

"Watford have a lot of quality there and if they can cut out the rolling around a bit then they might play a little bit better."

The Hornets missed out on automatic promotion on the final day of the regular season in May and then lost in the Play-Off final in extra-time.

When asked if his former club could go one step further and secure promotion, Robinson replied: "I don't know because it is a tough league this year. I think they will be up there with the quality they have and they can hurt teams.

"The league is so tight and so strong that it will be one of the toughest years this time around."

You can listen to Clark's press conference here.