Malky goes all Fergie!

They're both Scottish, but that's probably where the similarities end between Sir Alex Ferguson and Malky Mackay, but yesterday Mackay followed his countryman's lead in citing the referee's time-keeping as a reason for his side losing at Portsmouth.

Watford went down 3-2 at Fratton Park with Michael Brown grabbing the winner ten minutes from time, yet it was the amount of time added on to time added on that irked Mackay:

'I was asking him why he never added on any more time than he did. Five minutes is what he put up and he said he played five minutes, 30 seconds.

'As soon as the five minutes were up, there was another substitution. The ball was in the stand about six or seven times - to the point where one of my players was in the stands trying to find the ball.'

Mackay though did praise the spirit of his side who found themselves behind on the road for the first time this season:

'I think to come out and play the way we did in the second half showed great courage. I have to look at the bigger picture and see the steps forward - the way they have come on.

'It's a very young group which came down and played against a very experienced Portsmouth team, which is full of Premiership players.'

Opposing manager Steve Cotterill unsurprisingly had no complaints after his side grabbed all three points to give them 10 out of the last 12 available to them:

'I said to them, 'there are goals in you two. You've got to get into areas where there are shooting opportunities for you.'

'I remember speaking to Michael in America. I said to him 'where has Michael Brown the goalscoring midfield player gone?'

'He has quality in him and he has goals. He has shown that already a couple of times this season.'

The defeat sees Watford slip to fifth ahead of their clash with Ipswich on Tuesday.

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