Watford midfielder Callum Whelan feels the club's young players will have learnt a valuable lesson from the shock FA Cup defeat at Tranmere.

A much-changed, and young, Hornets side were beaten 2-1 after extra-time by the Sky Bet League One side at Prenton Park on Thursday night.

Whelan, though, insists the Under-23s players, who included goalscorer Kaylen Hinds, can only grow stronger from the experience.

After making his first senior start for the club, Whelen, 21, said on the Watford offical website: "I've been working hard in training and waiting patiently for my chance.

"I'm obviously gutted about the result, I'm disappointed because we want to win every game that we play, but it's nice to play 120 minutes and I think it's a valuable lesson as well.

"The pitch, the crowd, it's something I haven't really experienced before, so despite the result I do think it's a very good lesson that I'll learn from going forwards."

Watford, who are battling to stay in the Premier League, confirmed on Friday evening left-back Marvin Zeegelaar had secured a permanent transfer to Udinese.

The 29-year-old Dutchman featured 13 times after joining the Hornets in 2017, and returns to Italy having spent the second half of last season on loan with the Serie A side.