Watford's winless away run now stands at 14 and with Beppe Sannino insisting he doesn’t approach matches on the road differently, the players’ spirit, courage and concentration have been highlighted as potential reasons for the stark contrast to their home form.

The club’s top scorer also believes failing to press the opposition in the same way is a contributing factor.

The Golden Boys have not won an away contest since October 5 whereas at Vicarage Road they are unbeaten in seven matches and prior to Tuesday’s 3-3 draw with Blackburn Rovers, had not conceded a goal in six consecutive home victories.

Sannino stated he does not change the way he sets his team up tactically depending on if the Hornets are playing home or away.

Speaking after the 2-1 defeat at Wigan Athletic on Saturday, Sannino said: “We would like to have a team of players who have knowledge of different situations on the pitch.

“It is not only tactically. I would like to see my team play the same way home and away and approach the game the same way in terms of spirit and courage. And today I saw some positives because I thought they played with more spirit and desire.

“We were today able to play much more in their half compared to other away performances in the past. So I am pleased with that.

“There is not a difference in approach, it is a matter of personality.”

“It is not only me that is frustrated, it is my players,” Sannino added. “I don’t know a single player who wants to lose a game and the supporters are frustrated as well.

“We have ten games (now nine) to try our best because I do not want to have any regrets at the end of the season.”

Troy Deeney, who scored his 18th goal of the season in midweek, also gave his honest opinion on the awful away run after the Wigan game.

He told the club’s website: “This is only my opinion but at home we go and press really high up the pitch and it just doesn’t feel like we’re doing that when we’re away.

“Obviously, wherever you’re playing, there’s going to be a spell or two when the other team is on top, but I think we’ve benefited from being positive at home and perhaps we haven’t been so certain with our game-plan when we’re on our travels.

“Maybe it comes down to self-belief; there’s no reason for us to feel any different but it would only need a handful of players to have a slightly different mentality to the thing and the outcome has the potential to be so different.”

Watford’s six-match winning run at home was halted on Tuesday night but it is still seven games unbeaten at home compared to 14 matches without a victory on the road.

On Tuesday night, Sean Murray said: “I think maybe it [the difference] is concentration. We have been conceding goals late on in games and that is fully down to concentration and not allowing ourselves to become under pressure.

"We should be coping with situations a lot better and away from home, we should be doing that a lot better.

“Keeping hold of a good scoreline from the first half has been our downfall all season. We have nine more games to improve and hopefully we can do that heading into next season.”