Troy Deeney will be in contention for Watford’s final game of the season despite missing training yesterday (Thursday) to attend court on charges of affray and assaulting a police officer.

The Hornets’ leading scorer was arrested, along with his footballer brother Ellis and two friends, in the early hours of February 29 after an alleged fight outside a nightclub in Birmingham.

All four men were charged with affray and Deeney was also charged with assaulting a police officer.

The first day of their court case was yesterday but Birmingham Magistrates decided to adjourn because the two defence lawyers needed more time to assess the evidence.

When asked whether Deeney would be in contention for Saturday's match with Middlesbrough, manager Sean Dyche joked: “Of course. What, do they get injured in court do they? I just wondered, as I was unsure what they do in there having not been myself.”

“He will be fine and it hasn’t affected preparations.”

Watford have a fully fit squad for the first time this season with Stephen McGinn now back in contention after more than a year out with a cruciate knee ligament injury.

The midfielder played his second full 90 minutes in the Reserve game on Tuesday but Dyche stressed there are no guarantees McGinn will feature tomorrow (Saturday).

Dyche said: “It is a tough one with Stephen. He is somewhat in contention but whether we decide to play him is another matter. It is about safe-guarding his complete comeback. He needs to be properly right.

“He has come through a lot, had a good rehab which was what he needed.

“A lot of it is mental as well as physical. We will have to make a judgement call on that.”

The Hornets boss added: “I spoke to Stephen about it and you could misconstrue it [not playing for a whole season] as being a lost chance or a blow but injuries can happen to players and it is about how you move forward from the injury.”

Some sides use their final games to blood a host of youngsters but Watford are unlikely to do that.

Dyche stressed: “I will be playing a team which I think can win the game. It is not about blooding youngsters, because it is quite apparent I am and we have done it appropriately. Some have been ready and it has been obvious in the way they have performed and with others they are not ready yet.

“We want to give our fans something to cheer about, we want three points and we want to cap off what has been a productive season.”

Watford could have a major say on who secures the final play-off spot as they face a Middlesbrough team who are seventh and two points behind a Cardiff City side, who are managed by former manager Malky Mackay.

Middlesbrough boss Tony Mowbray has said he expects Watford to be up for the game because of the strong connections with Cardiff but Dyche dismissed the suggestion.

When asked if helping Cardiff was a factor, Dyche replied: “No, absolutely not because we have made it clear about our demand all season.

“This is just another game and we are more interested in ourselves.

“Middlesbrough and Cardiff will have to take care of themselves.

“That has always been our plan all season. We are aware of others in terms of their plans against us and we try to come up with a plan which will prevent that, but we concentrate on what we do. It is about no other team but ourselves.”

He added: “I have made it clear to the players that it is another important game for us. Not because of Middlesbrough or Cardiff but for ourselves and we have set a culture here that suggests we play to win on all occasions and we will be doing it again on Saturday.”