Mazzarri eyes green light for Gomes

Watford head coach Walter Mazzarri hopes to have first-choice goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes available when his side host Premier League champions Leicester City on Saturday.

Gomes suffered a knee injury last time out at Liverpool, meaning understudy Costel Pantilimon was forced to endure the majority of a 6-1 thrashing.

"Gomes should be back. We will verify in the next couple of days but he should be back, so we are happy about this," Mazzarri told a pre-match news conference.

Sebastian Prodl and Stefano Okaka are set to return from respective abductor and hamstring injuries, although Christian Kabasele sustained a thigh injury after making his debut for Belgium against Netherlands and misses out.

"Kabasele is still injured. We are not sure when he will be back, but for sure he won't be available for Saturday," Mazzarri added, with his eighth-place team aiming to extend a three-point advantage over Leicester in the Premier League's congested mid-table.

"Prodl will be back, and Okaka should be available. We still need to understand how his [Okaka’s] condition is at the moment, but he should be available at least from the bench."