Watford head coach Walter Mazzarri was very pleased with his team after the Hornets earned a 1-1 draw at Southampton in their Premier League opener.

The Italian took charge of his first league game and his team led at the break through Etienne Capoue.

But a Nathan Redmond equaliser denied them victory and substitute Ben Watson's late red card left the visitors holding on for a point.

Speaking via an interpreter, Mazzarri said: "I’m very happy and especially how the team played until we had used 100 per cent of our energy. They played the way I like.

Mazzarri added: “Until the moment [they scored] we were playing well, had good energy and had a very good 20 minutes of how I like my team to play. Unfortunately we could have closed the game in the first half but we didn’t."

Capoue was arguably Watford's stand-out performer and the midfielder earned praise from Mazzarri after his display.

The Hornets head coach said: “Capoue did very good. None of my players at the moment have a full 90 minutes in their legs.

"He especially was not feeling very good after the last friendly but he gave a very good performance."