Watford are better placed to do Leicester and Ipswich a favour v Leeds than Hull: View | OneFootball

Highlights

Watford ensured they made the perfect start to life under interim boss, Tom Cleverly, with a 1-0 away win over Birmingham City before the international break.

The former Hornets captain was appointed ahead of their fixture in the West Midlands following the announcement that Valerian Ismael had been sacked from his position at Vicarage Road having won just one of their last 10 league encounters.

Cleverly will have the opportunity to add his first notable scalp of his early managerial career when domestic action returns at the end of the month, welcoming Leeds United to WD18 on Good Friday, with the likes of Leicester City and Ipswich Town hoping the new manager bounce continues against one of their promotion rivals.

Despite not having anything to play for in terms of play-offs and sitting comfortably above the relegation zone, Watford could have a huge say in the exhilarating title race unfolding in the Championship, with Cleverley keen to make an impression.

And merely days into the final international break of the season, it was confirmed that Leeds striker, Georginio Rutter, had withdrawn from Thierry Henry's France U21 side ahead of their upcoming fixtures against the Ivory Coast and the United States.

The reveal raised more than a few eyebrows as there had been no indication, on the record or off, from Leeds United after Sunday’s win v Millwall about what was coming.

Rutter had seemingly seen out the match and came off in a regulation change in the 90th minute for Joel Piroe. The news would eventually come later on Monday: the 21-year-old had been playing through the pain barrier for several weeks and needed minor surgery on a hernia issue, as revealed by The Athletic's Phil Hay.

That being said, Daniel Farke has an array of attacking talent at his disposal should Rutter be unavailable for the trip to Vicarage Road, with Piroe likely to be the man tasked with filling the Frenchman's boots.

Rutter's potential Watford absence could be at Hull City's expense

Following Watford's fixture against the current league leaders, Farke's side welcome Hull City to Elland Road three days later, hoping to maintain their position in the top two.

Liam Rosenior's side come into the game off the back of four consecutive draws in the Championship, and will be hoping to strike a bitter blow to the Whites' hopes of Premier League promotion.

While the Foxes and the Tractor Boys will be hoping of a defeat against either side, they may feel that Watford stand a better chance of causing an upset, one because of the Hull game being at home, the other being the absence of Farke's most creative players.

Rutter's injury is likely to keep him out of action for around 10 days, which means he would be available to face the Hornets given the timescale, but given the attacking options at the Whites' disposal, it seems unlikely they risk him in the encounter against Cleverley's side with the risk of potentially losing him for the all important run-in.

This is one of few factors both Enzo Maresca and Kieran McKenna can cling on to when trying to stop this Leeds side, but with a new manager bounce and one of their key man potentially unavailable, it could make the title race a lot more interesting when the run-in kickstarts over Easter.