Beppe Sannino has paid tribute to Watford's "little big man" Cristian Battocchio - describing the distance he has covered in recent games as amazing.

Battocchio was on the verge of leaving the club on loan a few weeks ago but Sannino was keen to retain the player and injuries have seen the midfielder start the Hornets' last five matches.

Sannino had already praised the performances of Fernando Forestieri and Troy Deeney in his post-Brighton & Hove Albion press conference when he said: "We have named Troy and Forestieri but I have to name someone else – a little big man, Cristian Battocchio.

"He has played in the last few games and if you record the amount of kilometres that he has run, it is amazing.

"The balance we saw on the pitch today, we should give credit to Cristian."

Listen to Sannino's post-match press conference here.