Watford boss Walter Mazzarri believes any team in the Premier League would struggle to cope with the amount of injuries they have faced.

The Hornets were thrashed 4-1 at home to Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon with the decimated squad featuring three academy players on the bench.

To add to their woes, Juan Camilo Zuniga was forced to pull out with an ankle injury before kick-off while Nordin Amrabat limped off with a leg problem during the second half. 

Head coach Mazzarri said: “When a team that is growing a lot during the season then out of nowhere you start missing five starting XI players, I don’t want to do any other comparisons with other teams, but if you do take away these very important members of the team to any other side in the Premier League they would also be in big difficulty.

"It’s ok if I take one player out but four or five is completely different. On top of that, if we calculate that Craig Cathcart [returned against Tottenham] was out for four or five months then it’s another thing we have to add."

The pair look extremely doubtful for Tuesday's trip to Stoke City and Mazzarri felt the latest setbacks sum up the bad luck which has hit the Hornets' squad recently.

He said: “This also sums up the particular moment we’re having because this morning Zuniga was ok. He did the warm-up and there was no problem but then he started to run with the ball and he felt some pain on the left ankle.

"He tried to be available until the last moment but unfortunately he couldn’t make it and now we will see today and tomorrow if we can get him back for Stoke."

Mazzarri continued: “We’re all going to do some recovery and go back to the training ground to prepare for the game against Stoke.

"This includes Amrabat as well so hopefully by this afternoon or tomorrow morning we will know what the problem is and if he will be available."