Mark Warburton labelled Graham Salisbury’s penalty decision as “shocking” and said his Brentford players were “distraught” at leaving Vicarage Road empty handed following their 2-1 defeat at Watford tonight.

All eyes were on the referee shortly before half-time when Odion Ighalo went to ground in the penalty area following a challenge from Bees defender James Tarkowski. Salisbury took his time before deciding to award the spot-kick, which Ighalo saw saved by goalkeeper David Button before he converted the follow-up.

The Bees did draw level in the second half through Jonathan Douglas but were ultimately undone by Matej Vydra’s superb winner, which the former Hornets academy boss praised before criticising the referee’s decision in the opening period.

“It was a magnificent shot from Vydra and there is nothing you can do about that,” said Warburton. “What changed the game was that shocking penalty decision.

“The Watford player is running into the box, Tarkowski is running alongside him, his hands are up and the player goes straight to ground. There was no contact whatsoever.

“The referee’s delay in giving the decision was to see if it was a yellow or a red. That is absolutely incredible.”

The Brentford boss added: “Our players are distraught in there.

“I hate to come across as having sour grapes because it is not that at all. The fact is my players and our 2,000 fans were fantastic tonight and deserved at least a point.”