Tom Cleverley is set to be sidelined for a couple of weeks with a calf problem.

The Watford club captain came off at half-time last Friday night, moments after scoring what proved to be the winner in the 1-0 victory over Burnley.

Head coach Rob Edwards said: "We think it might be a couple of weeks. What we want to try and do is make sure we get this one right so he’s not coming back fighting through any kind of pain and having to come out again.

Edwards described the injury as "more of a niggle" and added: "It’s one where we’ve all had to sit down together and go 'let’s just get this right' so he’s not in and out, in and out.

"When you start playing through pain you can’t give of your best and we certainly want him to be able to do that.”

Turning to Saturday's trip to Preston North End, Edwards is expecting a difficult test against a side who, like the Hornets, have made an unbeaten start to the season.

“Obviously they’ve had four clean sheets which would indicate that they’re very difficult to break down, but not only that they’ve got a real distinct way of playing as well. They’re well coached with some good footballers. I went to watch them on Saturday [the 1-0 win at Luton] last week and I like them.

“They’ve got some characters in there, some resilience, all the things you would expect from a Championship team but they’ve got a good way about them as well. This is going to be a really tough game.”