Watford boss Beppe Sannino says the players that came on in the second half at Nottingham Forest were not to blame for the 4-2 defeat at the City Ground and insists the Hornets win as a team and lose as a team.

Sannino brought Almen Abdi on for Fernando Forestieri immediately after Forest made it 2-1 and the Hornets dropped into a more defensive 3-5-2 formation.

Abdi was forced off with an injury 14 minutes later and he was replaced by Marco Cassetti before Diego Fabbrini came on for Ikechi Anya.

When asked if he regretted his decision to change the system, Sannino replied: "I changed the formation but we always played with five at the back.

"Manchester City gave us some positives because in midfield we changed. Tonight I think we were good but I think we can be better."

He added: "I tried to make some substitutions [to have more possession in the second half]. I brought on Almen Abdi and didn't imagine he would have to come off injured within a few minutes.

"But I think when you lose, you lose all together - it's not the players that came on or came off, when you lose it's all the players that lose the game and the boss too."

At one point in the second half, the Italian slipped over in the mud on the touchline much to the delight of the Forest supporters.

"It's part of football," Sannino said. "I would like to be on the pitch with my players but I wasn't able to win the challenge with the opposition.

"I wouldn't have minded coming out covered in mud if we had won the game."

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