Watford are due to face Preston North End at Deepdale, in Edward Still’s first game in charge of the Hornets, looking to start how he means to continue.
Still’s side haven’t won a game since New Year’s Day, with a Tom Ince hat-trick being enough to see past Birmingham City 3-0.
The Lilywhites, meanwhile, claimed their first win in five against Portsmouth in a 1-0 victory thanks to an Alfie Devine goal.
Watford have plenty of quality in the midfield, with the new pairing of Nampalys Mendy and Imran Louza.
The Moroccan is known for taking control of the midfield to allow the game to flow in the Hornets’ way, and it could play in Watford’s favour up against Whiteman and Mcann.
However, there is also plenty of quality in attack for Watford.
The likes of Othmane Maamma and Kwadwo Baah are influential for the Hornets in attack, and they could make a real difference up against Vukcevic and Offiah on the wings.
Preston has a huge boost in attack ahead of this weekend’s expected clash.
Milutin Osmajic is set to return from suspension this weekend, and with five goals already for Preston this season, as well as Daniel Jebbison expected to return from injury with five goals and two assists this season.
The pair both love a goal against Watford, with Jebbison scoring in the reverse fixture in a 1-1 draw, and Osmajic has four goals in his last four games against the visitors.
In recent weeks, Watford have had a strong defensive pairing.
Stephen Mfuni and James Abankwah have kept one clean sheet in their past two matches together. The pair have managed match ratings of 6.8 per match.
Mfuni has won 100% of aerial duels in his last two and won 66% of ground duels. Similarly, Abankwah makes three recoveries and seven clearances per match.
New Watford manager Edward Still has confirmed this afternoon that Edoardo Bove will be on the bench for the first time since signing in the January window.
“He’ll be on the bench on Saturday, and I’m really pleased he will be”.
“His game time is going to be limited this week and probably in the next couple of weeks, as we need to get him up to speed. But I’m really happy we can have him on the bench”.
The Englishman also stated that centre back Matthew Pollock could return from injury at Deepdale.
“We’ll evaluate between now and Saturday if he is fit enough to start”.
Heckingbottom has also said that the new signing from Portsmouth, Callum Lang, will be available after playing for the Under-21’s during the week.
Andrew Hughes and Daniel Jebbison are also both set to return from injuries against the Hornets after both being in training this week.
Preston will be a tough test for Edward Still in his first match in charge of the Hornets. He will be looking to send an instant message to the fans.
