Watford will be without just Daryl Janmaat and the injured Gerard Deulofeu when they travel to Crystal Palace this weekend.

The Hornets are looking to build on their sensational 3-0 victory over league leaders Liverpool last week, but were dealt a blow when Deulofeu had to be carried off on a stretcher during that game.

Ahead of the match at Selhurst Park head coach Nigel Pearson admitted he did not know how long the Spaniard would be out for and could not make a prediction until after his operation.

Meanwhile Janmaat has not recovered in time to be ready for this weekend, after it was hoped he would appear in an Under 23 game during the week.

With just ten league games remaining between now and the end of the season, Pearson was pleased with the contributions of Kiko Femenia and Ismaila Sarr who returned to the starting lineup against Liverpool.

The head coach was happy to see his decision to not rush them back bring rewards.

“I think reflecting on last week, everybody had a very very good game but you’re right to point out that somebody like [Kiko] coming into a game with the potential intensity of that game played very well,” he said.

“Cast your mind back to a week before and the questions I got asked about why he wasn’t playing in that game, now you know why.

“I thought he did very very well and we’re going to have to make sure that both he and Sarr remain in a training programme which still protects them somewhat.”