Watford take on Charlton Athletic at Vicarage Road on Saturday and boss Gianfranco Zola hopes his side will come back stronger following the international break.

The Hornets suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat to league leaders Blackpool in their last Championship outing.

But the visitors’ first-half performance against the Tangerines saw some of the best football Zola’s side have played this season.

They now need to build on that. The international break has given the Hornets head coach almost two weeks to work with his players and they claimed a 3-1 win in a training match against Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday.

The last time the Hornets took on Charlton at Vicarage Road, the game ended in a 4-3 victory for the Londoners.

A repeat of that scoreline is unlikely and Zola hopes his side will produce a more consistent performance across 90 minutes – something they have failed to do so far this season.

He said: “We put in a very good first half against Blackpool and I am looking for us to build on that type of display. I think it is important that we are able to extend the duration of our performance.

“I know that comes with time but we want to make that happen as soon as possible.”

Zola confirmed today that Almen Abdi and Diego Fabbrini were injury concerns but the Hornets’ head coach expected them to recover for Saturday's fixture.

Those players who represented their countries have returned to London Colney without any injury problems and Zola had good news when asked about long-term absentees Nyron Nosworthy and Tommie Hoban.

He said: “They should be training with us soon. Nyron should be back very, very soon while Tommie might be back in October.

“They have both been looked after by specialists and they are progressing very well.”

The Hornets follow up tomorrow’s game with a home match against Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday evening.

Zola believes the two games will provide Watford with the opportunity “to build a strong platform”.

He added: “We are looking forward to playing the two games because we want to come back stronger.

“We believe in the last game against Blackpool we did not deserve to lose. So we want to bounce back quickly and strongly.”