Claudio Ranieri is relaxed about Watford's injury situation and believes that his squad will be able to execute his plans on the pitch, regardless of who starts.

The Hornets are without several key men for the trip to Leicester City, with Ismaila Sarr and Nicolas Nkoulou joining Francisco Sierralta on the sidelines after the pair picked up injuries against Manchester United.

Christian Kabasele, Ken Sema and Peter Etebo all also remain unavailable.

The Italian pointed to previous matches in which Watford performed well without Sarr as proof that they can still be a potent force without the winger.

"I want to remember twice I substituted [Sarr] and we scored twice. At Everton and twice against Manchester United," said Ranieri.

"He's a very important player for us, but we have also some players on the bench ready to play and I'm sure they will do the maximum for the team.

"I think now it's about one month, a little more, that I’ve been working with all the team and I think now everybody understands my philosophy, what I want, how we have to react to every bad situation. I’m sure who will plays in the position of Ismaila or Nicolas, they will play very very well."

Ranieri was also positive about his selection problems in midfield, with Tom Cleverley performing well in the absence of Juraj Kucka.

The Slovak is available again this weekend after serving a one-match suspension for his red card against Arsenal, but could find himself watching from the bench if the head coach feels Cleverley has done enough to earn another start this weekend.

"Cleverley made a fantastic performance and I like a lot how he plays," said Ranieri "He could continue. He’s a part of the team, he’s a part of the recent story of Watford and I’m happy with him."

After the win against Man United, Cleverley said he had been frustrated to find himself on the bench rather than in the starting XI.

Ranieri said this was the attitude he wanted from all of his players.

"I don’t like players who aren’t frustrated when they don’t play," he continued. "I want hungry players saying, 'I want to play', showing me during the training session.

"It’s what I want. I said, after the match, thank you to the players who didn’t play because they are pushing behind to play from the start. If they relax, the line up also relaxes. If they push a lot, they put some worry into the first XI."