It was a tale of two halves at Vicarage Road as Leicester came on strong after the interval to snatch a share of the spoils against Watford.

The Foxes had been poor in the opening period and found themselves deservedly behind at the break as two goals in four minutes from Jay DeMerit and then a penalty from Danny Webber had them on the ropes.

But whatever boss Craig Levein said to his players in the dressing room clearly had the desired effect as they hit back in style.

The visitors spent the entire second period camped in Watford's half and hauled themselves level through David Connolly's clinical 56th-minute finish and a well-taken Stephen Hughes strike.

And in the end they could have even gone on to grab a winner as the Hornets were forced to hang on for dear life in the closing stages.

Watford rang the changes after their weekend 3-1 reverse at QPR with Jack Smith coming in for Jermaine Darlington at the back while suspended midfielder Brynjar Gunnarsson was replaced by Lloyd Doyley and Neil Ardley took over from Bruce Dyer.

Webber started in place of Hameur Bouazza in attack while Leicester made three alterations of their own from the side which was knocked out of the FA Cup by Blackburn on Sunday.

Stephen Hughes and David Connolly were restored in favour of Keith Gillespie and Danny Tiatto, while on-loan Aston Villa striker Stefan Moore was handed his debut.

There was little early entertainment as a succession of needless free-kicks saw the referee constantly halt proceedings and it was 15 minutes before either side forced a chance as DeMerit ventured forward only to head tamely at goal.

But gradually, the home side began to assert their authority.

They were given a scare after 20 minutes when Connolly got clear of the last man only to fire straight at Richard Lee.

That, though, sparked a spell of concerted Watford pressure and they were unlucky not to forge ahead twice in as many minutes as first James Chambers' right-foot volley was tipped around the post before Webber smashed a shot against the upright.

Heidar Helguson was next to try his luck and he should have done better with a close-range header after 28 minutes from Doyley's cross.

Ten minutes later, however, the hosts got the breakthrough their pressure deserved as Neal Ardley was fouled by Nikos Dabizas just outside the box and the former Wimbledon man dusted himself down to float in a superb free-kick which was thumped home by DeMerit.

Just four minutes later the advantage was doubled as Dabizas was again clumsy in bundling over Helguson, this time inside the box, and Webber stepped to confidently send Walker the wrong way from the penalty spot.

But the second half was an entirely different affair and within 11 minutes of the restart Leicester were back in the game as Connolly latched onto a fine pass from Darren Kenton to drill low into the corner of Lee's net.

And that was a sign of things to come as gradually the Foxes began to turn the screw.

Alan Maybury fired a 30-yard piledriver at goal after 66 minutes which had Lee scrambling across his line as the visitors pinned the Hornets back into their own half.

Then with 18 minutes left Leicester's pressure paid dividends as Connolly carved out the opening with another dazzling run before slipping the ball into the path of Hughes to drill home.

Watford were reeling and seven minutes later another Connolly effort forced Lee to parry the ball before substitute Gillespie fizzed a shot wide of the left-hand post.

But despite the onslaught there was no way through as Leicester were forced to settle for a point.

Teams

Watford Lee, Chambers (McNamee 83), Cox, DeMerit, Smith, Doyley, Mahon, Jackson, Ardley, Webber (Bouazza 86), Helguson.

Subs Not Used: Chamberlain, Dyer, Blizzard.

Booked: DeMerit, Mahon, Smith.

Goals: DeMerit 40, Webber 44 pen.

Leicester Walker, Kenton, Hughes, Dabizas, Maybury (de Vries 89), Gudjonsson (Tiatto 45), Williams, McCarthy, Dublin, Moore (Gillespie 64), Connolly.

Subs Not Used: Gemmill, Hirschfeld.

Booked: Gudjonsson, Maybury, Tiatto.

Goals: Connolly 56, Hughes 72.

Att: 11,084

Ref: I Williamson (Berkshire).