Watford head coach Slavisa Jokanovic has acknowledged the threat Britt Assombalonga poses his former club tonight but believes the Hornets have the stronger "offensive weapons" heading into the clash with Nottingham Forest.

Assombalonga, who joined the Golden Boys as a 17-year-old, has developed into one of the best strikers in the Championship since he departed Vicarage Road in the summer of 2013 - when he was fifth choice at the club following the arrivals of Javier Acuna and Diego Fabbrini.

The 21-year-old is the division's top goalscorer with nine goals in 12 league games but Jokanovic believes his attacking options, which include the fit-again Troy Deeney and in-form Matej Vydra, carry a bigger threat.

Jokanovic said: "He (Assombalonga) is doing well [but] Watford have many dangerous players and I expect my offensive weapons will be more stronger than the Nottingham Forest players."

The Serbian, who became Watford's head coach two weeks ago, won his first game in charge on Saturday to move top of the table, as his new side defeated Sheffield Wednesday 3-0.

Tonight's opponents, Forest, started the season superbly but have slipped to fifth in the table after failing to win in their last five league matches.

But Jokanovic said: "I believe it will be a tougher test [than Sheffield Wednesday]. Nottingham Forest play a little bit differently to Sheffield Wednesday and we will probably have more problems with Forest's style of play. But we will try to find some solutions to these problems. I will give my team the information and work on the training pitch which should make us dangerous for them."

Jokanovic recognised the status of Forest and their manager Stuart Pearce ahead of the contest.

The former midfielder spent two years at Chelsea but only shared a pitch with Pearce for 11 minutes as a player, after the former England left back was taken off early into the match with West Ham United.

Jokanovic said: "I cannot remember if I played against Pearce but everybody in the football business knows who Stuart Pearce is.

"It is a big day for me in every aspect, especially because it is my first game at our home ground but also because it is against a historical club and with a famous ex-player and now manager."

Watford impressed in Jokanovic's first game as head coach but the 46-year-old stressed "this is history and memory does not exist in football".

Jokanovic's second game in charge is his first at Watford's home stadium Vicarage Road and he said: "I am very excited and this is a big day for me. I'm sure my team will improve with the supporters in the crowd."

Watford Observer: Action Images

The clash between two of the favourites for the Championship title comes just four days after Watford's win in Sheffield and Forest's 2-1 defeat in Cardiff.

Jokanovic has suggested he will not radically overhaul his starting XI but may adapt the 4-3-2-1 formation used at Hillsborough.

He explained: "This is the Championship and you often have a game three or four days after the last match. We are going to change some things but we don't need to change too much. We will try something similar with some modifications. Some players will [still] be on the pitch but we will try to give them a little bit different roles on the pitch."

On the formation, he continued: "This is the structure we started with and I will try to find the best structure for us to use the players in our squad.

"One hundred per cent there will be some modifications and we must do that depending on our situation and the opposition team's situation. But this is the structure where we start.

"We had a good game but it is finished now and we are thinking about the next game where we will make different steps to the first game."

On several occasions yesterday Jokanovic referred to needing to be adaptable and it was the same when asked if he would send his team out to attack Forest.

He replied: "We are going to try to win the game. It (winning) depends on the situation and many things but we will arrive on the pitch with the idea of winning the game.

"All coaches at all clubs try to win games. If you were facing a Premier League club like Chelsea, then you try to find a way to win the game but the possibility is less."

Injury news for tonight's match can be found here. You can also read about Assombalonga's route into professional football here.