Daniel Pudil says Joel Ekstrand’s sending off in Watford’s 3-0 defeat to Norwich City “messed everything up” for the Hornets.

The Swedish defender was dismissed just three minutes into Saturday’s game for allegedly elbowing Nathan Redmond in the face.

The Canaries went on to comfortably win the game. Bradley Johnson opened the scoring with a deft finish over Heurelho Gomes and Lewis Grabban doubled the lead in the second period with a deflected chip over the Brazilian.

Alex Tettey smashed in a third for Norwich who used their man-advantage effectively throughout the contest.

Pudil said: “It is always difficult to play for 90 minutes with ten men and Norwich played well. But to be honest, most of their shots came well away from our goal and two of them scored with shots which went over Heurelho Gomes.

“The sending off messed everything up for us because we had been preparing for three or four days before the game. We just tried to stay compact and play as a team because it is very difficult to play against 11 men.

“I would say that Norwich did not have that many chances and we had a few chances ourselves, with one that was one-on-one. If we had scored that then it may have been a different game.

“We have lost the points but it is still very early in the season and we have to look forward to the next game.”