Watford's Adlene Guedioura believes many players would not have made Ben Watson's 'sacrifice' to preserve the Hornets’ opening-day draw against Southampton yesterday.

Substitute Watson was sent off just 12 minutes after he had come on for hauling down Saints striker Shane Long with the scores level at 1-1, and the rapid forward clean through on goal.

It left Watford to play the final 14 minutes of the game with 10 men, but Walter Mazzarri’s side were able to earn their first point of the season relatively comfortably, ahead of two tricky home ties with Chelsea and Arsenal.

Algerian Guedioura, who was replaced by Zuan Zuniga three minutes before Watson’s dismissal, felt his team-mate had made the right choice in bringing Long down, and leaving referee Roger East with little choice but to show him a red card.

Watford Observer: Picture: Action ImagesPicture: Action Images

“We’re grateful he sacrificed himself for us,” he said. “It could easily have been a second goal for Southampton and we would have lost the point we have.

“Some players maybe would have found it difficult to make that decision but he did and he stopped one of Southampton’s best opportunities of the match.”

Watford found themselves caught out by a counter-attack from their own corner, leaving the midfielder in a foot race he was never likely to win.

Guedioura was keen to stress the side would learn valuable lessons from what was a tough second-half encounter on the south coast, and was left proud with their overall efforts against the Saints.

“We’re going to analyse when we go back and see what we did well and what we didn’t, and we’ll see what we can do for the next game.

“We showed great character. The 10 players on the pitch were really strong and I’m very happy we managed to avoid conceding in the last 15 minutes.

“That comes from everyone at the club, and the manager, and that’s how we’re going to be this season."