Roy Hodgson praised Watford for their "honest" performance after they held Everton to a 0-0 draw at Vicarage Road on Wednesday evening.
The match was ultimately a low-quality affair with both sides failing to create a large number of clear cut chances to score. The visitors upped their level in the second period and almost took the lead after Demarai Gray poked an effort wide, but that was their best chance of the match.
The draw leaves Frank Lampard's side two points above the relegation zone with three matches to play, extending the gap between Leeds United who lost 3-0 to Chelsea on the same night. Hodgson believes that Everton had a lot to play for in terms of their own battle against the drop, while his side knew their fate - and he praised his players for how they dealt with that situation.
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He said: "I don't know if I expected to see anything other than an honest performance. The players could be forgiven if they weren't able to give such a performance.
"I thought the honesty, the integrity and the work ethic...from so many players who had hardly played any games in my time at the club. They were playing against a team that had an awful lot to play for, they really had a knife at their throat in terms of needing points to avoid relegation.
"I thought that we dealt with that aspect extremely well. We come away saying that we probably deserved that.
"We've had this propensity to make important mistakes that have led teams to score goals against us, without necessarily dominating us for long periods. Yes there were a few mistakes here as well, but nothing like the ones that have cost us points in the past games.
"We're really pleased about that."
Watford's relegation from the Premier League had been confirmed a few days previously after a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace. Hodgson himself came in for criticism from some quarters after that match for not applauding the Hornets fans.
However, he also took time to highlight what the supporters did on Wednesday night, as they came to Vicarage Road in their numbers and really grew into the match in terms of their atmosphere.
He added: "I didn't quite know how many people would turn up, I couldn't really blame them if they had voted with their feet. But they did come, didn't they?
"Not only did they come but they did so in an extremely good way, and they encouraged the players too. The players on their part gave something in return."
