Orestis Karnezis insists former Watford boss Marco Silva’s links with Everton had no impact on the Hornets squad.

Watford relieved Silva of his duties in the wake of a dismal run of form consisting of just one win in 11 Premier League games.

A club statement directly cited an approach made by the Toffees for Silva in October as the key factor in a collapse of form under the now departed head coach.

However, Karnezis argues Silva’s failure to rule himself out of the running for the Everton post had no ill-effect on Watford’s form, instead highlighting the quality of Premier League opposition.

“No I don’t think it affected us and everyone is trying to do their best. That is football and we are not playing alone,” he said.

“There are other teams in the league with a high level of competition and we have been trying to do our best.”

Silva leaves Vicarage Road with the club still sat 10th in the table, a situation which will surely change should their dire run of results go on.

Southampton’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday leaves Watford just four points clear of the relegation zone, but Karnezis believes they have enough quality to avoid the drop.

He said: “We have the quality to stay in the first positions and we proved this at the beginning of the season.

“We have had some bad games in the last two months which have been difficult for us, but we will find the solutions to stay in the league.”