Beppe Sannino felt it was a “gift” to play at the Etihad Stadium and believes Manchester City are capable of competing for four trophies this season.

The Hornets were on track to cause a major FA Cup shock yesterday as they led 2-0 at the interval through goals from Fernando Forestieri and Troy Deeney. But after a disappointing first-half display, City found the attacking form that has made them such a free-scoring side this season as a Sergio Aguero hat-trick and Aleksandar Kolarov’s long-range strike kept Manuel Pellegrini’s side in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple.

The Hornets head coach said: “It was a gift and my players deserved that reward because they were able to get through the cup. To play in this stadium with amazing supporters is a gift.

“After this kind of game you can be a little disappointed but I am the kind of person who looks at it with perspective.

“I think if you analyse the game you could look at it from different angles and with different opinions but overall I am happy.

“Before today Manchester City had scored 106 goals this season and against the majority of teams they played against.

“I am proud of my team and my lads because in the first 60 minutes they couldn’t score against us and we caused them some problems. I am very happy and I hold on to those feelings.”

Asked about the Capital One Cup finalist’s hopes of possibly also winning the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup, Sannino replied: “I am used to seeing Manchester City on television. Tonight I saw them from the touchline.

“They have a lot of extraordinary players. I think they can compete for all four trophies but football is also very unpredictable so they have to focus on every single game.

“I only wish we had a similar problem at Watford because now the Championship is our one target.”