Rey Manaj’s first goal in Watford colours earned a share of the spoils under the lights against Birmingham City, as a 1-1 draw at St Andrew’s extended the Hornets’ unbeaten start to the Sky Bet Championship season.

John Eustace’s Blues went in front arguably against the run of play with just under 20 minutes played, when George Hall finished off a slick move initiated by former Golden Boy Troy Deeney.

But after Vakoun Bayo and Mario Gaspar had gone close for Rob Edwards’ men, Manaj grabbed a second-half equaliser eight minutes after coming on, and Watford finished the clash on top but just couldn’t find a winner.

Having successfully avoided defeat in each of their opening four league games in a second-tier season for only the fifth time, the Hornets will travel to Preston North End on Saturday (August 20, 3pm KO) with eight points from a possible 12, looking to continue their fine start to the campaign.

With injury and suspension having ruled out Tom Cleverley, Ismaïla Sarr and Hassane Kamara for the trip to St Andrew’s, Yáser Asprilla and Bayo were brought into the XI for their first Watford starts alongside Christian Kabasele.

And Asprilla and Bayo – together with João Pedro in attack - looked bright from the off, with the former unleashing a fizzing effort from distance on the four-minute mark that offered a glimpse of his intent.

Kabasele was next to try his luck five minutes later – again from range – and while his shot similarly failed to test home stopper John Ruddy, Watford were seemingly growing in confidence as the seconds ticked on.

An in-swinging Ken Sema free-kick diverted straight into the arms of Ruddy in the 12th minute, but just moments later João Pedro created the best chance of the match with a neat piece of skill down the left-hand side.

The Brazilian worked his way into space by beating Birmingham’s Maxime Colin, before firing a teasing cross towards Bayo who could only divert his header wide of the mark at the front post.

At the other end the Blues enjoyed their first real chance of the game when Scott Hogan beat Francisco Sierralta and latched on to Juninho Bacuna’s clever ball, but Daniel Bachmann was on hand to beat the effort away from goal.

In what was now a frantic period of the match, captain for the night Craig Cathcart saw his looping header palmed against the post by Ruddy, but it was the hosts who took the lead in the 19th minute.

A quick throw by Deeney down the right opened up space for Hogan deep in Watford territory, and the 30-year-old’s accurate cut-back found teenager Hall on the penalty spot who duly notched his first senior goal.

The Hornets went agonisingly close to an equaliser nine minutes later when Gaspar’s effort beat Ruddy after a clever through-ball by João Pedro, but a last-ditch clearance by Dion Sanderson on the line denied the Spaniard a first goal in English football.

As the game drifted towards half-time the momentum continued to swing between the sides, and Deeney saw a tame effort comfortably collected by Bachmann after a cheeky bit of skill by Bacuna.

Sema was caught up in an awkward challenge with Josh Williams before two minutes were added to the 45 by referee David Webb, and neither team was ultimately able to add to their tallies before the hugely competitive first half was brought to a close.

Hogan was the first to shoot at goal in the second period, though he failed to ask too much of Bachmann in the Watford goal, and it wasn’t long before Edwards made his first change of the night, with Manaj replacing Bayo.

The pace of the game had slowed considerably after the break, but the Golden Boys showed great patience to even up the scores in the 63rd minute through summer arrival Manaj.

A neat one-two between Gaspar and Asprilla led to the former firing a fizzing ball across goal that Ruddy could only parry to Sema, and the Swede’s shot back across goal rifled into the net via a deft touch off Manaj’s boot.

The goal boosted Watford’s confidence and Kabasele went close with a header soon after the restart, and then Edo Kayembe connected well with a volley that just veered wide of the mark.

An awkward, bouncing Deeney volley from Williams’ cross served as a reminder of Birmingham’s threat with little under 20 minutes to play, though João Pedro continued to push for Watford but missed the target after a fine chance with the clock close to the red.

Recent arrival Keinan Davis came on for his debut in yellow late on, while Joe Hungbo also came off the bench for his first appearance of the season, but neither man was able to grab the headlines with a winner as both sides were forced to settle for a point.