Watford manager Adrian Boothroyd has insisted his side have been the victim of poor refereeing decisions throughout the season ahead of the Championship play-off semi-final second leg at Hull.

Boothroyd saw a seemingly legitimate Danny Shittu headed goal ruled out after just four minutes of the 2-0 defeat at Vicarage Road on Sunday before captain John Eustace was sent off by referee Kevin Friend in the second half following an altercation with Ian Ashbee.

Eustace will play at the KC Stadium after a successful appeal to the Football Association, meaning that of the six red cards shown to Watford players this season three have subsequently been rescinded and Boothroyd believes his players' reputations have cost them.

He said: "John Eustace is a tough-tackling, whole-hearted player and referees look for it. Where your attention goes, your energy flows and John Eustace has been a victim of that. His red card against Stoke last month was not a sending-off, I've seen a lot worse tackles than that. It was a booking, maybe, but because he's John Eustace it's a red.

"Because Darius Henderson has a reputation as a big bruiser he gets the same treatment from referees. If you were to see him after a game, the amount of scars and cuts he has to put up with, it's incredible.

"But I don't want to get my violin out for him because he gives as good as he gets. It's a man's game, you have to be physical and that is part of what we do. But there is a balance to be had and I don't think that we find it in our favour very often."