Etienne Capoue is among the best central midfielders in the Premier League, according to Watford head coach Javi Gracia.

Suspension saw Capoue miss Saturday's 1-1 draw with Southampton and Watford missed the Frenchman's energetic presence at the heart of their midfield.

While Gracia believes his squad features many useful midfield options, he accepts Capoue offers the very best quality.

"Capoue is one of the best midfielders in the Premier League and do not have any doubt about that," Gracia said.

"If you ask me about all the midfielders we have, you can speak about [Abdoulaye] Doucoure, [Nathaniel] Chalobah, Tom Cleverley who is injured but recovering and you can speak about young players such as Ben Wilmot and Domingos Quina.

"I think we have different options and all of them are good for the team. Today the team competed well without Capoue and we were able to get a point."

With Capoue ruled out, Saturday's visit to St Mary's saw Nathaniel Chalobah handed his first Premier League start of the season.

The 23-year-old was understandably slightly off the pace as he continues to search for match sharpness having recovered from a fractured kneecap.

Gracia was pleased with the manner in which Chalobah performed and believes he will have benefitted from earning some much needed minutes.

He said: "It is normal that he didn't play at his best level because he needs more time to play, but both he and Doucoure played well. In this case Chalobah deserved to play."