Watford captain Jay DeMerit had surgery this morning on the bizarre eye injury which has kept him out for more than a month and manager Malky Mackay hopes it will halve the defender's recovery time.

The USA international has been seeing eye specialists in the last couple of weeks and a particular machine was brought into the UK especially to operate on the 29-year-old.

Speaking exclusively to the Watford Observer following his side's 1-0 win at Middlesbrough, Mackay said: “Jay was operated on this morning and the surgeon managed to get a machine into Britain which we feel will allow Jay to get back quicker than the normal operation for that injury, so we await developments.”

DeMerit had recovered from a groin strain and was expected to face Plymouth Argyle on September 15 when his eye became irritated after a small particle of grit became stuck underneath his contact lense.

The defender's right eye became “angry and swollen”. He went to see the club doctor and then an eye specialist in Plymouth and found out he had cut his eye. It had become infected and DeMerit was prescribed antibiotics.

As the night went on, his eye became worse and by the time the Watford players had arrived back the next morning, he was unable to see properly out of his eye and had to stay at goalkeeper Richard Lee's house.

The antibiotics had not been strong enough and although the cut was healing, the bacteria continued to spread and the centre-back’s vision became blurry.

Mackay claimed it was unclear how long the centre back would be out for but said: “We hope that it will possibly halve the time that he would have been out for. It is a much better situation, put it that way.”

Speaking before the operation, DeMerit thought he would be out for between one to two months. Speaking to Soccer America, DeMerit said: "They'll cut out the exact same shape of the cornea with these high-tech lasers, just drop it in a new one and stitch my eye.

"With this new procedure, they hope I can be out in a month or two, which to be honest, isn't that bad. The traditional way they said I'd be out three or four months."

Tom Cleverley's fifth goal of the season was enough for Watford to win this afternoon, despite the absence of John Eustace through illness.

Mackay said: “John came in with sickness on Friday morning. We were going to check on his situation in the afternoon and were going to bring him up on the train if he improved but it got worse as the day went on so there was no way he was coming.”

Second choice keeper Richard Lee also pulled out of the game yesterday after jarring his knee in training, which resulted in 16-year-old Jonathan Bond making the bench at the Riverside.

Mackay said: “We will not know about him until the physios have a proper look at him over the weekend, again it was something which was last minute.”