Slaven Bilic discusses Watford dilemma involving Keinan Davis and Henrique Araujo | OneFootball

Watford head coach Slaven Bilic has suggested he will not try and play forward loanees Henrique Araujo and Keinan Davis together from the start.

Since Araujo's arrival from Benfica in January, Bilic has stuck to his 4-2-3-1 shape, with either one of the two forwards getting the nod to start the match.

Interestingly, on three occasions, one of the two has started and been hooked for the other at half time.

That was the case against Preston on Saturday, when Araujo started and was replaced by Davis at half time. The same thing happened to Araujo v Blackburn last month, whilst Davis was the one hooked at Middlesbrough away prior to that.

With such chopping and changing, neither striker have been able to get into any sort of goalscoring form, with many supporters feeling that to get the best out of them, they could be played alongside each other.

The two did that away at Reading, with Davis playing in the 10 role in place of the injured Joao Pedro, but it doesn't sound as though we will see them together from the start any time soon judging from Bilic's latest comments.

“Two rather than one [up front]? We finished the game like that,” Bilic told the Watford Observer when questioned about a possible change of shape.

“To be fair, you are losing too much and it’s more like gambling, you know.

“In modern football teams who play with two strikers don’t have orthodox wingers, they play with midfielders there or with full-backs who are great offensively.

“I’m not sure we have that at the moment. We’ve done it a few times and finished like that today. We’ve done it a few times and we lost our stability on the pitch.

“I don’t mind finishing the game like that or playing one part of a game like that, but to start a game with that? I’m not saying the opponent will be more dangerous towards our goal, but I’m saying we wouldn’t create enough.

“We have tried it a few times, not from the start I agree.”

Watford currently sit 9th in the Championship following a drab 0-0 draw with Preston on Saturday.

The Hornets are four points adrift of the play-off positions ahead of their trip to QPR this weekend.

The Verdict

It's disappointing to hear Slaven Bilic pretty much dismiss the possibility of Henrique Araujo and Keinan Davis playing together.

Watford have been shocking in recent weeks. Davis has been given more of a run than Araujo, but the Portuguese forward, whenever given an opportunity, seems to get hooked at half time.

Ultimately, Bilic needs to get Watford firing. He was brought in with the purpose of trying to achieve automatic promotion and at present, they aren't even going to make the play-offs.