Ben Foster has criticised the new handball law after Watford were denied an equaliser against Manchester United, before going on to concede twice more in an eventual 3-0 defeat.

The new law, brought in at the beginning of this season, states that a player commits an offence by gaining possession/control of the ball after it has touched their hand/arm and then scores in the opponents’ goal, creates a goal-scoring opportunity or scores in the opponents’ goal directly from their hand/arm, even if accidental.

Troy Deeney managed to scramble the ball into the United net from a Watford corner early in the second-half, but contact with Craig Dawson's arm beforehand meant that the VAR had to disallow it according to the change in rules.

In an interview for the club website, Foster said he believes that the outcome of the game could well have been different had the goal been allowed to stand and that the decision affected the team's mindset.

“If Troy’s goal stands it would have been very different, the goal being disallowed took the wind out of our sails,” he said.

“I’m not a big fan of the new handball rule. When it’s like it was today, it’s not handball for me. His arm is pressed to his body, but the new rule is what it is. You can’t let things like that affect you.

“The second half was disappointing, and we didn’t recover from the disallowed goal. We thought we’d got back into it, but it wasn’t to be, and we let our heads drop.

“It’s going to be a scrap to the end of the season. We gave them too much time and respect. We have to keep our heads up and keep fighting.”

Foster accepted responsibility for the Hornets going behind in the first-half, after he took down Bruno Fernandes in the box, with the Portuguese midfielder converting the subsequent spot kick.

With just 11 games remaining for Watford to Navigate themselves away from the drop zone, the 36-year-old has urged his side to show team-spirit and not let the emotions of the situation affect them.

“I’d say the first goal was a mistake from me, I should have held back really. I just thought I could get there, but he was really quick and got there first,” he said.

“Team spirit is going to be a huge part of this. Results in other games were kind to us this weekend. We know we’ve got plenty of quality in the dressing room, so we can’t let things affect us emotionally.”