Claudio Ranieri insists Emmanuel Dennis is not disappointed to be staying with Watford after his withdrawal from the Nigerian African Cup of Nations squad.

It emerged this morning that the striker would no longer be travelling to Cameroon for the competition, despite him being named in the 28-man squad, which was announced on Christmas Day.

A dispute over the timing of his inclusion in the squad has resulted in the player staying with the Hornets, with the Nigerian Football Federation accusing the club of "bearing fangs" over the matter.

Ranieri said the issue was now resolved and that the player was now focused on Watford's relegation battle.

"I knew they were speaking the board and Nigerian board and I accept every decision they find, for me it’s finished," he said.

"They have a lot of players and they changed the manager and they changed everything. We were ready to give them the players, but they didn't do this. The two boards spoke and for me it’s okay, I’m only the coach and I accept everything.

"Now I spoke with him, of course he wanted to go to play, but also he wanted to help Watford."

Asked if the club were being disrespectful towards the international tournament, Ranieri simply said: "No. We respect everybody."

Having Dennis at his disposal is good news for the head coach, whose squad was stretched to its limit for Tuesday evening's 4-1 defeat to West Ham United, with three youth players named on the bench.

While William Troost-Ekong is available again for tomorrow's game, as well as Tom Cleverley, Kiko Femenia is not, leaving Watford with just Adam Masina, Francisco Sierralta and Craig Cathcart to accompany the Nigerian captain in defence.

Ranieri is yet to decide who will make up his starting XI tomorrow, but said whoever plays has to stop making stupid mistakes, with several errors causing problems for his team throughout the season so far.

"I will choose tonight," he said. "Every night before the match I choose the first XI. We are ready, we know Tottenham is in a good condition, they're a good team. We want to play much better than the last match against West Ham.

"All the team has to help. Sometimes we make some mistakes - very very stupid mistakes - but that’s it. We have to be very focused in all the matches and have concentration in all the match."

Ranieri's defensive problems could be lessened with additions in the January transfer window.

Asked if he had any transfers lined up, the Italian said: "My focus is only on Tottenham. when we finish that match, I will speak with the board to try to find the right solution for the team."

However, he did say he hoped a new left back would arrive before long, with the club understood to be prioritising that position in the window, which opens tomorrow.