Marco Silva sent out a message to Watford's board last night after publicly announcing he had made clear to them what he feels he needs to improve his injury-hit squad during this month's transfer window.

The 40-year-old has been unhappy with the make-up of his Hornets squad since the summer, when he felt the club missed out on key targets and lost Nordin Amrabat, who was loaned to Leganes on September 1, with the English transfer window already shut and no blessing from the head coach himself over the deal.

However, while some of the players brought in under Silva's watch have hit the ground running, such as Richarlison and Kiko Femenia, others have struggled - namely Marvin Zeegelaar and, in large part, Andre Gray.

The Hornets have not been helped by injuries in key positions either, which Silva hopes will force the hand of his board to move quickly in order to make additions to the squad.

He said: "I hope we get players in early. We are working, the board knows what I expect as well.

"It’s really important the problems that we have in our squad at the moment, having more players available for the next match is important.

"But my job is to work with the players we have in the squad, develop them as much as I can and I hope we can improve in some important positions for us."