Watford give official fitness and availability update for Newcastle United match | OneFootball

Watford travel to St James Park on Saturday.

Claudio Ranieri knowing that if they lose, Watford are guaranteed to drop into the relegation zone as Newcastle United would go one point above them.

Currently fourth bottom, Watford have had a host of injury issues, as well as now players away at the African Cup of Nations.

Ahead of this Newcastle United match, Watford on Thursday giving an official update on injuries and potential availability.

It is a mixed bag of news.

Watford announcing that all three January signings are available for selection on Saturday – Hassane Kamara, Edo Kayembe and Samir.

However, the likes of Peter Etebo, Kwadwo Baah, Nicolas Nkoulou and Ismaïla Sarr are all still definitely ruled out.

Meanwhile, another four are possibles who could return from injury for this Newcastle match – Ben Foster, Emmanuel Dennis, Kiko Femenía and Christian Kabasele. All four will be assessed between now and Saturday afternoon to see if they are ok to be involved.

Dennis is Watford’s top scorer with eight goals this season, so hopefully he won’t be available for this key game at St James Park.

Watford official update – 13 January 2022:

‘Ben Foster has returned to full training and could be available for selection against Newcastle United on Saturday (January 15).

The goalkeeper hasn’t featured since November due to a groin injury but will be assessed before the squad travels to the north east tomorrow (Friday).

Three further players who have returned to full training are Emmanuel Dennis, Kiko Femenía and Christian Kabasele, who will all be assessed before a decision is made about their involvement at the weekend.

Dennis missed last weekend’s Emirates FA Cup trip to Leicester City with a knock, while Femenía (hamstring) has been sidelined since late December and Kabasele (calf) has not played since October.

New signings Hassane Kamara, Edo Kayembe and Samir have all trained this week and are in contention for the trip to St James’ Park.

Peter Etebo (quad) is back out on the grass and hopes to join group training in a couple of weeks, while Kwadwo Baah (ankle) is running outside and Nicolas Nkoulou (hamstring) continues to work in the gym.