Watford boss Nigel Pearson admits his players are struggling to perform without fans at the stadiums.
Pearson likened the members of his team to actors going from live stage performances to all of a sudden having to muster the same energy on a television set.
"I suppose the only analogy I could give you would be actors who enjoy acting live on stage compared to the sterile environment of doing a TV sitcom in front of a camera but with nobody there," he said.
"Our players aren't used to not performing in front of their fans and the emotional attachment and the noise and the cheers and the boos and everything else. We're asking people to work in a way which is very alien to us but still give the levels of performance that everybody expects.
"It's very easy to sit there and be critical, but I also understand the difficulties. I think the players have embraced the challenge very very positively and we'll all continue to work together to achieve what we're setting out to do. It won't be easy, but that's the plan. Crack on with it."
