Watford boss Pearson against 'false' crowd noise

The Hornets' boss said that he 'can't stand' the 'false' atmosphere of the noise being piped in for players and television audiences.

Crowd noise can be turned on when the ball is out of bounds, and Watford trialled their own version of the idea against Brentford in a friendly match at the weekend.

Pearson said: “What we have got to do is just deal with the situation, our stadium will be the same as every other stadium - no supporters.

“It is a real shame, let’s be honest this game is for supporters. It would be nice to have our fans here, but they are not so it is how you are able to deal with the situation.

“Hopefully our players will be able to isolate all the emotional side of it and deal with a sterile environment.

“We are not overly keen on - I don’t know if you like American comedy shows, I can’t stand them with canned laughter - so we don’t intend to create an environment where there is a false atmosphere.

“We have to deal with our own situation and know that our fans are very much behind us. We know that anyway, we are a club that has an identity in the community and the way the club has supported that community during the pandemic has been very, very good.

“Every club is in the same situation, we just have to try and win as many games as possible and deal with an unusual set of circumstances.”

Meanwhile, Watford 'keeper Ben Foster agreed with his manager.

“It really annoyed me,” Foster explained after the game. “Everybody agreed we’d rather not have it.”