Tom Cleverley chose his words carefully but his body language and face could not hide his fury at the way in which Southampton secured their 3-2 win.

Having signalled seven minutes of stoppage time, and even allowing for that  being a minimum figure to be played, it was still baffling that the winner was scored in the 99th minute when there were no actual stoppages in the preceding seven minutes.

“That’s the source of my frustration,” said Cleverley.

“The red card incident on Porteous, genuine mistake. The handball before the goal, the ref’s line of sight might have been blocked, genuine mistake.

“The fact that the corner gets delivered well into the 98th minute after seven had been signalled, that’s a worry.”

What did he mean by “that’s a worry”?

“We’re mid-table and this hasn’t affected our season,” he explained.

“But when there’s hundreds of millions of pounds on the line for Leeds, Ipswich and Leicester, they could argue that the top referees should be in charge for these games where the stakes are so big.

“I will never ever have a go about a genuine mistake, but I’m disappointed the corner was taken.

“If it is seven minutes of stoppage time, then it’s seven.

“But there were no subs, no goals in stoppage time. So I am struggling to see how we have led to that corner being taken in the 98th minute.”

It was a decision which cost Watford a point, which they appeared to have salvaged after a dreadful start which saw them quickly go 2-0 down.

“It’s a really difficult one to take because although we weren’t at our best in possession today, we’ve managed to create a whole host of chances and shown real character away from home at 2-0 down against a top team,” said Cleverley.

“It’s the first time we’ve been behind in my stint as manager and we showed real character to come back.

“So it’s a really, really bitter pill to swallow coming away with no points, and we’re feeling really hard done by.”

Should officials have to face the media when there are such controversial decisions?

“I think that opens a free-for-all, and the referee was respectful to the players on the pitch,” said Cleverley.

“But I am really frustrated about the chain of events we’ve gone through to come to that corner being taken.

“It should never have happened and it’s a situation where you need someone strong in charge of the game.”