New signing Ismael Kone will almost certainly make his Watford debut in the FA Cup Third Round tie at Reading tomorrow, and head coach Slaven Bilic is likely to pitch a few other youngsters in too.

Injuries, suspension and ineligibility mean the Hornets make the short trip to Berkshire without 15 players, and on top of that there are others who will be rested to protect them for future league games.

“Normally you have a first team and a second team, but the situation we find ourselves in means we just have one group,” said Bilic.

“It’s a tiny group and not a good position to be in. If you look at tomorrow, we have 15 players who are not available to us for one reason or another.

“On top of that we have other players who have slight knocks. Daniel Bachmann has soreness in the ribs from the collision towards the end of the game at Norwich. Hopefully he’ll be back for the next league game.

“So there are also some of the guys that we won’t risk tomorrow because of the situation we are in.

“I am really trying to respect the FA Cup because it is a wonderful competition and is also a way of making a great impact on the season. With a good team, good performances and a little bit of luck you can go far in this competition. Watford were in the final only a few years ago.

“But at this moment we have priorities and we can’t do both things. We still have very good players who will play, but because of injuries we will call on some youngsters.

“We will put out the best possible team we can, given the circumstances. At Norwich we were maybe happy to take a 10% risk with things. Tomorrow we’ll take no risks.

“Young players will get their chance and also some senior players who haven’t played so much recently will also play.

“We will try to go through, of course, and I am expecting some individual performances to tell me ‘I’m here, you can count on me for the coming games’.”

Midfielder Kone’s last action was for Canada at the World Cup, but he joined up with his new teammates just after Christmas.

“He is one of those that will get a chance,” Bilic explained.

“I’m not expecting him to gel with others instantly as it’s his first game for us and his first game in England.

“I expect to see him affecting the game though, offensively and defensively.”

Also likely to be involved is young winger Adrian Blake, who made his debut as a substitute in the Carabao Cup earlier this season and has been on the bench recently.

“He has trained with us because we have liked what we’ve seen, and it’s a no-brainer to have him involved,” said Bilic

“I told him and the club that I want him to train with the senior squad all the time. It’s what we did with James Morris – he wasn’t training with us when I joined, but since then he has and he has improved and grown.

“That is part of the job I have here, to develop young players. When I was at West Brom we had a lot of good kids and that has to be the same here.”

However, young Brazilian forward Matheus Martins will not feature against Reading as not all his paperwork is complete.

“Martins is a player I like a lot. Not having him available to play tomorrow is a blow because I wanted to see him out on the pitch, with shin pads on, with a referee, playing in a match.

“It’s a waste that we aren’t going to get that opportunity tomorrow. It’s all down to paperwork. I’m told it might take five days, it might take two weeks. That’s not really a great answer.”