Watford boss Gianfranco Zola insists he will not be taking upcoming fixtures into consideration when picking his team for tonight’s match at Burnley - who he believes are the “surprise team of the season so far”.

The Hornets go to Turf Moor 12 points and eight places behind their opponents, who have enjoyed an excellent start to the campaign under former Watford manager Sean Dyche.

Zola’s men are playing their second of three games in eight days but the Watford boss insists he is not thinking about rotation.

The Hornets are without a league win in six matches.

“I am only thinking about the Burnley game,” Zola said. “I am not thinking about rotating for Saturday or future matches or anything like that.

“Right now it is important for us to focus on Burnley which, considering the situation, is very, very important.”

Watford made it four home defeats in a row with a shock 3-0 loss to Yeovil Town on Saturday and Zola is pleased tonight’s match comes so soon as he believes it gives the players the chance to bounce back.

He said: “It gives us the opportunity to get back on track as soon as possible so yes, absolutely I am pleased.

“The players know the importance of the moment and they are ready, they want to go out there and perform, I have no doubt about that.”

As is normal between games on Saturday and Tuesday, Watford trained yesterday and Sunday as the players look to iron out the mistakes that have cost them so dear.

Burnley have not been at their sharpest in recent games either – they have not won in their last four league matches – but Zola insists his team are aware of the task they face.

“So far Burnley are the surprise team of the season – they have done very well,” Zola said.

“Considering our recent record at home, it might be better to be playing away but of course playing away from home against Burnley is not going to be an easy task either.

“We are still close to the play-offs but it is more difficult because the expectations were different at the start of the season so when we’re on a bad run like this, it makes everyone edgy.”

He added: “We trained today (Monday) and yesterday (Sunday) and we tried to do a few things that can make a difference so we’ll see, we’re looking forward to it.”

Zola will decide today whether Manuel Almunia and Josh McEachran are well enough to play after the pair missed Saturday’s match due to illness.

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