Despite leaving the midfielder out of his starting line-up for the past two games, Watford head coach Marco Silvar remained tight-lipped over a reported bust-up with Etienne Capoue.

The French midfielder sat out last weekend's 0-0 at Aston Villa and was a second-half substitute in today's stalemate with Real Sociedad, in the wake of a national newspaper report claiming the head coach had fallen out with the 29-year-old in the build-up to that game at Villa Park.

Silva said he "solves things directly with his players" in occasions where disagreements occur, but refused to comment on the rumours of an alleged confrontation.

He said: "I don’t want to talk about what the newspapers have written, but normally I don’t have many problems in my career.

"Everything is clear, I know what I want for the team and so do the players, and everything I solve directly with my players.

"He worked hard when he came on, and that’s what I want from my players."