Quique Sanchez Flores felt Watford’s 1-0 FA Cup win over Newcastle United showed the Hornets have learnt from two agonising late defeats in the last fortnight.

Last-gasp goals have seen the Golden Boys beaten 2-1 by Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City in their last two Premier League outings.

But Watford held firm to seal their place in the hat for round four after Troy Deeney’s first-half goal settled a close encounter against the Magpies at Vicarage Road.

The north east outfit pushed for an equaliser, coming close on several occasions, but the hosts held firm to advance. 

Speaking afterwards, Flores said: “For us it’s very important to finish with the feeling we stopped anything happening in the last minutes.

“We have learnt from the last losses.”

The Hornets head coach made four changes to his side from the one beaten by City last weekend.

Obbi Oulare, Steven Berghuis and Adlene Guedioura were all handed rare starts whilst Sebastian Prodl made his first start after injury in October.

Flores felt the FA Cup was the ideal opportunity to cast an eye over those – who for various reasons – are on the periphery of his squad.

He said: “We respect the competition a lot and try to always be competitive and put out the best possible team.

“We have a lot of players who are doing well and playing at a good level. They need minutes and we need to test them because we need these players for the future.

“For us it’s the perfect scenario for them.”

Asked if he would continue to rotate in the competition, he replied: “Probably, yes.”

After gut-wrenching late defeats to Spurs and City in their last two games, Flores was delighted to see his side get back to winning ways, albeit in a different competition.

“For us the FA Cup is a different competition and situation,” he said. “But, of course, the feeling we collect from the last match is always important for the next match.

“If we have the feeling before we play Southampton (on Wednesday) of winning against an amazing team like Newcastle and going into the next round of the competition then, of course, everything is positive.

“The most important thing is the players have good feelings, good energy, positivity and confidence.”