Watford have enjoyed a huge fitness boost, following the return of six players after the conclusion of the international break.
Injuries have been a constant factor for the Hornets so far this season, which has done little to help a difficult start to the season before the break.
But, ahead of the visit of Burnley to Vicarage Road on Saturday, Alessio Dionisi has confirmed the return of six players to training, with another addition joining them, too.
Soumaila Coulibaly, Jordan Zemura, Martin Payero, Omar Traore, Marc Bola and Travis Akomeah all continued physio and rehabilitation work over the prolonged international break, and have now returned to training.
As well as the returning players, Watford have been boosted by the addition of free agent signing Krepin Diatta, who left French side AS Monaco this summer following the expiry of his contract.
“It’s better for us,” the Italian rejoiced, “Because it’s better when we have a lot of players; we have two teams on the [training] pitch."
But not everybody is back available, with several players not expected to feature until after November's international break.
“Edoardo Bove, Jeremy Ngakia and Kwadwo Baah are not ready,” he admitted. “They will probably be ready after the next international break [in November], but we have a lot of ‘new’ players.”
Despite the largely positive boost, Dionisi sought to temper expectations over their likely involvement in the immediate future, as they are set to be eased back into action.
“The good news is we have a lot of players now, but they are not ready to play 90 minutes,” he conceded, “Because they work with us, from today, for three days [until the first match back].
“So, it’s impossible for them to be ready to play 90 minutes; it’s important to recover.”
As well as the returning players, Dionisi specifically mentioned new signing Diatta, who he confirmed is also not ready to play a full game, having not played a competitive game since the World Cup.
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