Al Bangura's future at Vicarage Road may be in jeopardy after he joined up with Sierra Leone on international duty without the permission of Aidy Boothroyd.

The 20-year-old, who won his well-publicied fight to stay in this country but was disciplined by the Hornets last summer, is expected to make his debut for his country in tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Nigeria in Abuja after receiving a late call up.

Bangura had been due to feature in the Hornets Reserves’ game against Charlton Athletic on Monday night – his name was even on the teamsheet that was sent to the Watford Observer at 4.15pm and given out prior to the game – but coach Malky Mackay revealed after the 3-0 defeat that he had taken “a call saying he wasn’t going to be available for me tonight”.

The midfielder is now due to return to Watford’s London Colney training base on Tuesday and can expect to be greeted with an angry reception by his manager.

“The situation with Al is he’s gone away without my permission,” said Boothroyd. “I didn’t think it was a good idea and told him I didn’t want him to go, and I’ll be dealing with that issue when he comes back. But I am not very happy about it.”

Asked how events had unfolded, Boothroyd responded: “If the manager says it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen, so that’s what my issue is.

“It is something that will be dealt with internally on his return. There maybe more to come but at this moment I am waiting for him to come back.”

Boothroyd and other Watford officials are likely to take a particularly dim view of the player’s actions after they fought a lengthy and high-profile battle, supported by this newspaper, to stop him from being returned to his war-torn homeland last year. Bangura was set to be deported until he was granted a work permit to remain in Britain following an appeal.

To make matters potentially worse for the midfielder, this is not the first time he has been in trouble with his manager. He was sent home early from Watford’s pre-season trip to Austria in July for “disciplinary reasons”.