Roy Hodgson has explained that it was not his decision to omit Dan Gosling from Watford's 25-man squad list and said that it is now up to the midfielder to force himself into contention with his performances in training.

Gosling has been handed a second chance at the Hornets this season, after the Premier League allowed him to be brought back into the squad, due to Ashley Fletcher leaving for New York Red Bulls on loan.

Fletcher's departure raised questions over why he had been included in the updated squad list in the first place, at the expense of players like Gosling, given that he had played a total of just 27 minutes of Premier League football, across three substitutes' appearance.

At his press conference yesterday, Hodgson said it was "made clear" to him that he would not have Gosling available for this season, but that the former Bournemouth man had been training with the first team anyway.

Now that he is available once again, the manager will start paying more attention to his effort.

"I haven't concentrated that much on him during these past five weeks," said Hodgson. "It was made clear to me from the beginning that the club wanted to exclude him from the list. I'm delighted that he's back in and delighted in particular for him because I didn't send him away from the training sessions. I've allowed him to train with the first team all the time, but I've made it clear to him if anyone was going to drop out or if I can't find a place for you, you've got to accept that, and he has.

"But he's kept himself very fit. So he is available and now it will be for him, now he's a part of the squad and I could use him, to get into my eyeline and to be saying to me, or shouting to me, with his performances in the training pitch, 'you're making a mistake, not to use me'. But that would go for quite a few players if I was to be honest."

One player who was not only excluded from the 25-man list, but also excluded from training sessions, was Danny Rose, who remains with the club, but continues to work on his own.

Hodgson said it was "unfortunate" that he was not part of the squad, but he was in no position to change it.

"When I came in, I was given a list of players [and told] 'These are the ones we expect you to work with' and Dan, unfortunately, was not on that list," said Hodgson. "I was told that he's training separately, he's not going to be involved with the club, and I was in no position, and I'm in no position to question that.

"I've met with Danny, I know him of course, I had a brief conversation, but all I can say to him was this has got nothing to do with me. It's you and the club and this is what's been decided and this is what I'm doing.

"So unfortunately, you will have to accept the fate that's been dealt."