Decisions on the involvement of Ismaila Sarr and Hassane Kamara at Luton tomorrow are still to be made, but Chris Wilder said that with eight matches still to go he’s not going to take any risks.

Sarr has not featured since limping off with a hamstring problem in the second half of the defeat at QPR on March 11, while Kamara has not played at all under Wilder having suffered a hamstring issue after the draw at Burnley on February 14.

Much has been asked about Sarr and where he fits into the shape Watford have adopted recently, and Wilder didn’t go into huge detail about whether the Senegal international will feature or not.

“He’s trained the last couple of days fully. He stepped up his rehab, was back out on the grass on Tuesday and should be available,” said the Watford head coach.

“Kamara has also stepped up his rehab – the key thing is not to break these lads. We aren’t at the last two games of the season where you can take big risks because there are no more games to play.

“I’m not a risk taker when we still have eight games to go. If we had players on the verge of fitness and we only had two games left, I might view it slightly differently.

“You have to respect that these boys are athletes and we don’t want to break them. We want them to be coming back as strong as possible so they don’t re-injure. I think that’s as important for us as it is for them.”

Of course, Wilder has been without a number of first-team players due to the international break, and will not get everyone back at London Colney until this morning (Friday).

“I think all managers feel like parents waiting for the kids to come back from a school trip when it’s an international week,” he smiled.

“You want them to come back fit and healthy, but you also want your players to represent their country and play at the highest level they can.

“When you see the press that Ryan Porteous has got from the two wins that Scotland got, plus the experience he’s gained, and Craig Cathcart has gone away and captained his country, there’s two examples of why international breaks can be so good.

“I’ve never been one who wants to block players from going away and representing their country because of the experiences they can have.

“But also the more players you have away on international duty, you have more chances of something going wrong and less time to prepare them for the next game.

“There are a few who have been across the other side of the world, and you have to hope that won’t have taken too much of a toll.

“The club have got used to this because for some time we have had a very international squad, in the Premier League and the Championship.

“The staff are used to waiting for players to come back, and they have good relationships with the different international federations which means we always have a good idea of how our players are getting on.

“As things stand, we’ve not heard of anyone coming back with a problem. Most of the players were back before yesterday (Thursday), some came back yesterday, and Ismael Kone isn’t back until Friday.

“Would I have liked a free week to work on things from Monday to Friday? Yeah of course I would.

“But these are obstacles you have to overcome, and it’s not an excuse. These are, at the end of the day, international players.”

Part three of this exclusive interview will be published this morning. To make sure you can read every every Watford FC story, with less ads and a faster website, get a digital Watford Observer subscription: click here for details. You can currently get your first month for £1 and be entered into a draw to win a luxury chocolate hamper.