A clean sheet and another game unbeaten, but there was little else to savour from a low-quality goalless draw where the pitch beat both teams.

It was a match that deserved to finish 0-0 because neither side ever built up a head of steam to justify winning it.

Although both teams hit the woodwork and Ben Hamer made a couple of very good saves, in truth this was a scrappy, unattractive 90 minutes.

A fair part of the blame can be apportioned to the playing surface, which was bare in places and generally unpredictably bobbly.

Players from both sides were needing multiple touches to get the ball under control, it regularly ran away from them and trying to string a sequence of passes together was tricky at best.

Indeed, Watford played more long, direct passes than in any game this season, which certainly didn’t help their cause but still didn’t explain fully why they were so far off their level.

When they got the ball wide they looked able to threaten – but the word when is doing a lot of heavy lifting there as it simply didn’t happen often enough.

Instead the ball was often trapped 20 yards either side of halfway and as the clocked ticked away it looked less and less likely that Watford would find a way through.

Hamer returned in goal, with Jake Livermore and Tom Dele-Bashiru restored to the midfield.

Dan Bachmann, Francisco Sierralta and Yaser Asprilla all dropped to the bench.

Mattie Pollock kept his place in defence, giving him his first league start of the season and only his second in Watford colours.

The Hillsborough pitch looked very bare and was clearly bobbly, which had an influence on the game.

Watford played far more long, direct passes than usual and the surface didn’t help the home side either as the quality of the opening 45 minutes wasn’t great.

An early VakounBayo shot from a corner was partly blocked and ran through to Beadle before Hamer made an acrobatic save to push away a 25-yard effort from Bannan.

There were few chances early on, but in the 25th minute Watford came very close to going ahead.

Matheus Martins curled a 25-yard free-kick which glanced off the Wednesday wall, wrong-footing Beadle. The ball bounced back off the upright and spun away from the incoming Bayo.

Shortly after Dele-Bashiru fired wide after Livermore had controlled and laid off a free-kick into his path.

In the 35th minute, Watford – not for the first time this season – showed why Valerien Ismael bemoans their lack of ruthlessness.

Kone stole the ball in midfield and set Bayo racing away. He pushed the it right as Beadle came out of his area, but Martins was stretching to reach it and screwed the ball wide of the empty net.

Then, right on half-time, the home side so nearly went ahead.

Ugbo got behind the defence on the right of the box and thumped a shot against the inside of the post with Hamer beaten.

The ball flew out at speed and Musaba managed to get a reactionary header which Hamer did very well to recover and hold.

Having been booked, rattled the home fans and wound up a few players, Martins was replaced at half-time by Yaser Asprilla.

The second period was more open but barely any more entertaining.

Eight minutes in Chakvetdaze rolled the ball inside to Kone, he checked and then fired a low 20-yard effort just wide.

On the hour Watford came close. Chakvetadze's cross ran to the back of the six-yard box, Asprilla got to it and shot from a tight angle.

Beadle saved with his feet, but Watford recycled the ball back out to Chakvetadze and his second low cross just eluded the sliding Bayo.

Four minutes later the Hornets enjoyed a big let-off as Bernard met a deep free kick with an effort which looked like it had squeezed past Hamer.

The keeper turned round on the floor and smothered it, referee Rebecca Welch checked the buzzer on her wrist and it didn't signal the ball had crossed the line.

A minute from the end Hamer excelled again, diving high to reach and tip over a rising 25-yard drive from Diaby.

Watford: Hamer; Andrews, Pollock (Porteous 82), Hoedt, Lewis (Sema 73); Livermore, Chakvetadze (Dennis 84), Dele-Bashiru; Kone, Bayo (Rajovic 73), Martins (Asprilla ht). Subs: Bachmann, Sierralta, Ince, Morris