Nigeria’s Odion Ighalo and other Watford stars may return to the bench during their FA Cup match with Leeds United next weekend, according to club’s manager,
Quique Flores.
The Hornets will host their Championship opponents at Vicarage Road on Saturday looking to book their spot in the quarter-finals of the competition.
With his side just four off the 40-point target for the Premier League survival, following their 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace, Flores insists that he will give the FA Cup his full attention, but also use it as a chance to field some of his fringe players.
“We have to do our best in the cup because I know our fans really want it,” Flores told reporters.
“All the players deserve to play and that’s why this season in the cup, I try to put them in the first 11. We have 25 players and we can play a strong team. We have a lot of players who train really, really well and deserve to play and in the cup, we have a chance to name a really decent team,” he added.
Watford have not reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup since 2007.