Watford head coach Vladimir Ivic is hoping to strengthen his team soon in order for him to fully prepare his side for their Championship battle.

In their Carabao Cup second round victory over Oxford United, the Hornets handed debuts to three under 23 players with Ivic trying to spread his squad as thinly as he can, while others recover from injury.

The coach said he wants those players who are currently unavailable to be back as soon as possible, while he is also hoping for a few new players to arrive and provide a challenge.

"I speak every day with my medical team and the doctor. They give me information every day," he said. "Believe me, I'm the man who wants to have them back with us. When will be the moment, when we will be complete squad? I believe it will be the last day of the transfer window.

"We are looking at some positions that we need to strengthen. It's clear, after these games that we need some positions, we need to speak, we need to talk with the people from the board of the club to find a solution and to improve the squad, to be strong and to have two players in each position."

Ivic was dealt a further blow last night with a hamstring injury to full-back Marc Navarro.

The defender has been for a scan today, but the coach admitted it did not look good at first glance.

"With Navarro, it's not a good situation," he said. "I believe it's too soon to speak now about that because it happened now and we will know tomorrow when he will have an MRI. But the feeling is not good because he told me that he felt a sharp pain, which means something has happened and for sure he will stay out now. How long that will be, we will see."