Slaven Bilic admitted he has felt more like a doctor than a coach when speaking to the media over the last couple of months.

There have been more questions to field about injured players and return dates than matches and formations, such has been the plight of Bilic’s squad.

However, with players returning this weekend and more scheduled over the next three weeks, he can start to talk more about football and less about hamstrings.

“I feel more like a doctor! Rather than 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 I’m talking about a few weeks out, five weeks out, eight weeks out,” he smiled.

“Remembering how many weeks players are out is unfortunately a big part of my job at the moment!”

However, the Watford boss did have injuries still to talk about. Francisco Sierralta could well be out for the season after surgery on a broken toe, while recent signing Joao Ferreira picked up a hamstring injury at Middlesbrough last week.

“He’s going to be out four to five weeks,” admitted Bilic.

“A new player like him comes in, his game is physical, and all about pace. Unfortunately he didn’t play enough in the first half of the season at Rio Ave, either minutes or at the level of intensity.

“Because Ngakia got injured he had to play, and then the injury happens. That’s what happens when players come from different countries at a young age, especially if they hadn’t played much for the last six months.”

Much has been written about Bilic’s hopes to get a winger in during the January transfer window, and he explained that was partly due to knowing Samuel Kalu is still out for some time.

“Kalu is a player I like. When we came he wasn’t in a good moment. He was injured and wasted a little bit,” he said.

“But in ten minutes on the training ground you can see he has something special. That burst of pace, and his first touch is also a movement. He’s not static.

“But he gets injured. Already he’s been injured twice and they aren’t injuries that keep him out for a couple of weeks. No, they are major ones.

“When I think about games, I don’t think about all 17. I think about maybe the next five games, and when I do that then Kalu won’t be in my plans. He is nowhere near ready. If he was fit then we wouldn’t be talking about a shortage of wingers.”

One player who Bilic anticipated having back by now is midfielder Edo Kayembe, but he’s still not ready for action.

“He is close but Kayembe is one where things didn’t go as we expected,” said the Watfoird head coach.

“He should have been back perhaps at the start of the year, but unfortunately he had a couple of setbacks.

“He looks good now and hopefully he’ll join the main group next week. But he was supposed to be doing that earlier.

“It’s his calf and to be fair, the calf is a tricky one that can go wrong. You don’t get signals which say you can push or you need to stop.”

The injuries this season means that Bilic has never had his full, strongest squad available to him.

“For me that is the most important thing in a season, more important than your training sessions – how many key players you have available.

“Any team in history that has been successful usually has its best players available. When Leicester won the Premier League, I think Jamie Vardy played most of the games – same with Mahrez, Kante, Albrighton. I have a feeling that Morgan and Huth played the whole season.

“That’s the key. Injuries come with the territory, but if you have too many of them and you can’t get your key players on the pitch then it becomes difficult.”

One player who has been available, and didn’t go anywhere during the January transfer window was Ismaila Sarr.

The Senegal international was linked with a late bid from Everton on January 31, but Bilic said he was never aware that such a deal was even on the cards.

“Not that I know of. The owner, Gino, said from the beginning that Sarr was staying. That shows, from his side, ambition.”