Slaven Bilic is hopeful the majority of Watford’s injured players will be available again within the next fortnight.

The Hornets’ central defensive resources were stretched for yesterday’s 4-0 win at Stoke City due to injuries to Craig Cathcart and William Troost-Ekong, while Kortney Hause was only fit enough for a place on the bench.

The new Watford boss also had to do without Joao Pedro, in addition to longer term casualties Tom Cleverley and Rey Manaj, but on the plus side Imran Louza made his first appearance of the season following his knee operation and impressed during his 30 minutes after coming off the bench.

“We had today a very good first XI and you could see the guys that came from the bench are good players and they raised our level also,” Bilic told Sky Sports.

“We are a little bit thin because some very good players are injured, but apart from Tom Cleverley and Manaj, most of them should be back in a week, two weeks’ time.”