New Watford head coach Slaven Bilic says the Watford squad he has inherited "puts a smile on my face".

The former Croatian international takes charge of his first game when the Hornets travel to Stoke on Sunday, and he will be without William Troost-Ekong who sustained a minor hamstring injury while on international duty with Nigeria.

Joao Pedro is rated as 50/50 to be available after picking up a slight calf injury, and although both Imran Louza and club captain Tom Cleverley have stepped up their training, Sunday's game looks to have come too soon for them.

On the more positive side, a scan has shown that Jeremy Ngakia's hamstring injury is not as bad as first feared, and midfielder Tom Dele-Bashiru is potentially a couple of weeks away from resuming full squad training.

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Bilic appointed new Watford head coach

Although his options for the trip to Stoke are reduced, Bilic is happy with the resources available to him.

“The squad we have puts a smile on my face. The squad is good," he said.

"Managers say they are always short of one or two players because they can always see ways to improve, but I am happy.

"The good thing about our squad is we have a lot of players who have played 50, 100, 200 Premier League games, but they’ve also played 50 games in the Championship. That means you don’t need that learning process because the players know what to expect – there are no shocks going to Stoke for an away game or wherever it may be. That is something which you can’t buy.

“I like the squad I have and I’m not being positive because I have to sound positive. I like the squad and I see that they want to win."

He said his predecessor had left him with plenty to work with.

“Rob Edwards has left me a squad that is not disillusioned, they are not devastated, it isn’t an unfit group of players," said Bilic.

"They are in good shape. They can be better but they are in good shape. They just need that something which brings them back to where they should be, and where they are expected to be."

The former West Ham manager said he was delighted to be coaching again.

"It feels great to be here, to be back in England and back in a really good league with a top club. This club has ambitions and that is what I wanted, it was what I was looking for while I was resting and recharging in Croatia.

“This is one of those sorts of opportunities that I was looking for, and also I thought I would be of interest to clubs like this. I’m feeling very optimistic and positive."