Baah and Ebosele both ruled out for a couple of months
Watford will be without both Kwadwo Baah and Festy Ebosele for a couple of months due to the injuries they picked up on Tuesday night.
Baah limped off during the first half of the 2-0 defeat to Preston, and Ebosele followed him down the tunnel in the second half.
Imran Louza also had to be substituted, but the news on his injury is more positive.
“Baah has a thigh issue, and it’s a muscular problem which seemed quite significant so we had further tests done,” said head coach Tom Cleverley.
“It doesn’t look like we’ll have to go down the surgical route which is good, but we’re still in a number of months rather than weeks.
“I’d say it’s likely it’ll be two months.
“He’s been a terrific player for us this season and someone I love working with.
“And credit to him he’s approached this season with a new attitude and a hunger to learn and improve, which is different to the player I played with.
“It’s no surprise he’s improved and he’ll be a real miss for us.
“One v one he is one of the players in the league. He gives us a real option to play with wingers because he is so positive in those situations.
“He is a well-liked character around the place too, so even his off-the-field influence will be missed.”
It was a similar story with Ebosele, who had come on to replace Baah.
“Festy has got a very similar injury to that of Dan Bachmann, and will be out for the same sort of time,” explained Cleverley.
“Imran is the least significant injury of those came off on Tuesday, and we’re assessing him before making a decision ahead of the weekend.”
Both Tom Dele-Bashiru came off the bench against Preston, and the pair are fit and ready to play at Coventry on Saturday.
“Both of them are fully ready,” said Cleverley.
“I’m really pleased with Tom’s training and the qualities that he brings us in the way we want to play.
“Giorgi was only really a small issue and when he came on Tuesday he changed the game in a positive way.”
Kevin Keben didn’t play in Monday’s Under-21 game as he suffered a minor setback that wasn’t risked.
“We know with the type of injury Kevin had that he needs a bit of management and sometimes it can flare up,” Cleverley explained.
“That is a quick turnaround, get the knee looked at and injected and that puts him back maybe four or five days.
“It might not be the last time we go through this process with him, and I know it always seems like I’m moving the goalposts with his return but it was a real small setback and he’s trained today.”
Despite losing a number of key players in the space of a few weeks, the Watford head coach remained philosophical.
“We’ve had a good run with injuries this season so there’ll be no complaints from me about availability,” he said.
“I can’t complain too much that three have come at once, and we just have to deal with it.”
