Quique Sanchez Flores admits he is surprised by Swansea City’s plight near the bottom of the Premier League ahead of Watford’s trip to south Wales tonight.

Having finished eighth in the top flight last season, the Swans started this campaign in positive fashion by taking eight points from their first four games.

But following their 1-0 defeat at Vicarage Road at the start of September – the Hornets’ first Premier League victory of 2015/16 – City have won only two of their 16 league matches, with Alan Curtis now in charge following the sacking of Garry Monk.

Both clubs go into tonight’s televised fixture off the back of defeats last Wednesday.

The Hornets put in a hugely disappointing showing in their 2-0 loss at Southampton while Swansea were beaten 4-2 at home by fellow strugglers Sunderland - a result which meant the Swans slipped into the bottom three over the weekend.

Flores was asked about Swansea’s predicament at Saturday’s pre-match press conference, the Spaniard said: “I didn’t expect to see Swansea in this position but everything is possible in football.

"Sometimes things become complicated. Things you may not have expected.

“But we respect this team. Here at Vicarage Road they played really well. They played good football and pushed us a lot.”

Apart from long-term absentees Joel Ekstrand and Tommie Hoban, Flores reported no fresh injury concerns and Nathan Ake is available following the completion of his three-match suspension for the red card he received in the 2-1 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.

The Hornets head coach confirmed Ake is ready to return if selected but continued: “He wants to play but we have to analyse the situation and look at (Jose) Holebas’ performances because he played really well.

“They are different players. Holebas is more aggressive defensively while Ake uses the space well and understands the individual and collective moves of the defensive line.

“When we have the ball, both of them help the attack but in different ways. They have different characteristics.”

Flores must also decide whether to restore Craig Cathcart to the starting XI or to stick with the centre-half pairing of Miguel Britos and Sebastian Prödl after their below-par showing at Southampton.

The Watford boss commented: “Prödl played really well in the first part of the season and Britos has done very well since he was introduced into the first XI. So it wasn’t an experiment.

“The team just played really badly against Southampton. It wasn’t just a case of the defence, it was the collective.”