Vladimir Ivic was disappointed to lose Tom Dele-Bashiru to injury during yesterday's defeat at Reading, with the Watford head coach describing him as one of the best players on the pitch.

The Nigerian limped down the tunnel midway through the first-half after picking up a knock which will be assessed further today in order for the club to learn how long they will be without the midfielder.

Ivic was particularly irked by Dele-Bashiru's latest problem, given that he is a player he wanted to have at his disposal since he first arrived.

"For me, I'm very disappointed because of his injury," said Ivic. "He's a quality player, he's a guy who can give us a lot and I've been waiting for him to be with us after his first injury.

"He's come back, he played the previous game and he started this game very well, he was one of the best players on the pitch before his injury. I hope that it's not something dangerous, but we cannot speak because it's too early to tell something. After tomorrow he will do and MRI and we'll see what will happen."

Other injuries did not help Ivic's cause yesterday either, with both Tom Cleverley and Ken Sema ruled out of the starting XI with minor issues.

Although both came off the bench during the game, their absence from the start proved costly, with Watford conceding their first goal of the season, which resulted in their first defeat.

The head coach now hopes he can use the international break to bring his team back up to full fitness and to work on the mistakes that cost them at the Madejski.

"In this game we started without our captain [Cleverley] because of a small injury during the week," said Ivic. "He didn't work with us in the two or three days and he joined us yesterday. Because of that, I put him on the bench. He was not 100 per cent ready for the game. He's a very important player for us and he's a guy who is a good player and a good captain and good for the group.

"I believe that in this international break, we have time to work, we have time to sign some players, who I believe will come to help us and the target is to work day-by-day to improve mistakes and to be better."