Young Watford striker Bernard Mensah has joined Barnet on loan until January 5, bolstering Martin Allen's striking options.

Mensah is eligible for Saturday's FA Cup first round proper tie with Wycombe Wanderers and Bees head coach Allen hinted the forward could start against the League Two side earlier in the week.

The 19-year-old striker has made just one substitute outing for the Hornets – against Bolton Wanderers last November, in one of Gianfranco Zola’s final games in charge of Watford.

Mensah spent the final few months of last season on loan at Conference side Braintree Town, scoring twice in seven outings before a knee ligament injury ended his stay with former Hornet Alan Devonshire’s side.

He had previously had surgery on the same knee two years earlier and made his return to action for Watford's Under-21s against Peterborough United in the Under-21 Premier League Cup in September.

Eligible to play for Ghana or England, the Hounslow-born forward trained with Ghana at Watford's Vicarage Road Stadium ahead of the Black Stars' friendly with Nigeria in 2011, but was not called up.

The striker signed his first professional contract when he was 16 and penned another deal in January 2013, which will expire in the summer of 2016.

Mensah has been on the bench for the Hornets on a handful of occasions this season, but has been restricted to Under-21s football as he seeks to re-build his fitness following injury.