Ian Holloway says he can’t understand why Watford fans do not like him and denies that his two fingered gesture at full-time was lewd.

Watford’s travelling supporters made Holloway the target of a particular chant during the game after the former Crystal Palace boss’ disparaging comments about the Hornets’ use of the loan system last season.

Holloway, though, could only offer last season’s play-off final defeat by the Eagles as the reason for the Watford chants.

After Millwall’s injury-time equaliser, Holloway reacted by twice showing two fingers to the Hornets supporters to represent the full-time result.

“I said “two-two”, because they were calling me something that you shouldn’t be called, from the whole lot of them, so I said it’s 2-2. Is that tongue-in-cheek or not? Of course it is,” explained Holloway.

“I used the same hand twice. Is there anything wrong with that or not?”

He continued: “It must be completely and utterly sour grapes when I went along and did my job and they didn’t like it.

“I’ve never done anything against them, so that must be it and how narrow minded are you? It’s just rubbish, that’s what I don’t like about football. You should be gracious in defeat as well and if that’s what they want to do just because I beat them, then [blows raspberry], jog on.”

Pressed further on the issue, Holloway said: “If people can’t see the funny side of that then [they should], the fourth official could, and he was laughing his head off.”

“Now if I’ve offended anybody, I don’t care. They’re offending me by screaming at me and I’ll apologise. It wasn’t a lewd gesture at all, it was the score and how finicky are we getting if you can’t have a little bit of banter?

“Not being funny, am I fighting with their dug out? Do I bring the game into disrepute? I don’t think so. I make it a nicer place to be, I think.

"At the end of the day, it’s all excuses. We’re in London, it’s a bit of banter, it’s a bit of a derby, we needed the points, and I’m still jovial.”