Watford vs Bristol City injury news with 11 out and two doubtful

Nigel Pearson and Chris Wilder will be without several players for the rest of the season as Bristol City and Watford both contend with injury problems.

The Robins travel to Vicarage Road having not beaten the Hornets in a competitive fixture in nearly six years. A 3-2 win in the Carabao Cup with Zak Vyner the only player still at the club is their last positive result.

Watford though have had far from ideal preparations and this week had to confirm Wilder was remaining in his post until the end of the season. It was speculated that he would be replaced by Francesco Farioli about succeeding him, but a club statement confirmed the ex-Sheffield United boss would remain for the last five matches.

Wilder will be unable to call upon striker Britt Assombalonga though who may miss the rest of the campaign. He went off after 12 minutes with a hamstring injury which will rule him out for between six to eight weeks.

Several players are on the treatment table at Watford with more than half a dozen out with injury. Tom Cleverley, Francisco Sierralta, Tom Dele-Bashiru, Edo Kayembe, Kourtney Hause and Dan Gosling are all unavailable.

Goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann meanwhile was shown two yellow cards against Huddersfield Town and missed the draw with Coventry City.

As for the visitors, the injury list is getting smaller at the right time for Nigel Pearson. Kal Naismith played for the first time since mid-February, having come on as a substitute in the 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough.

Alex Scott and Tomas Kalas are pushing to be a part of the squad this weekend. Scott had picked up a knee ligament injury whilst on international duty whilst Kalas has been out since early March with a recoccuring groin problem.

Ayman Benarous, Joe Williams and Rob Atkinson meanwhile are out for the rest of the season. Benarous and Atkinson are ACL injuries whilst Williams damaged his hamstring.

Republic of Ireland international Mark Sykes serves the final of his four game ban this weekend. He was banned by the FA for an incident picked up on camera against Swansea City.

Pearson also cleared up that Kane Wilson was not injured, after being excluded from the match-day squad against Boro on Monday. Wilson, who has yet to start a game in the Championship since his summer move was kept out of the squad because the manager wanted to look at City’s academy prospects. He was sidelined from October to March with a knee injury, but his first-team opportunities have been limited since his return.