Watford supporters will surely agree that Slaven Bilic must consider making this change ahead of Blackburn Rovers clash: Opinion | OneFootball

Winless in their last three matches, Watford are facing a tough, but crucial fixture run for the remainder of February.

Indeed, following last weekend’s dismal second half performance away at Reading that saw the Hornets let a two goal lead slip, the club are about to embark on a run that sees them play four of the current top seven in the Championship.

It’s seventh-placed Blackburn Rovers up on Saturday, followed by Burnley away, West Brom at home, and then Sheffield United away.

Of course, Watford and Bilic will be helped with this run of fixtures when players return from injury, with the likes of Imran Louza, Tom Cleverley and others due to return over the next few weeks, although no official time frame has been given.

One thing Watford supporters can surely mostly, if not all agree on, though, is that midfielder Leandro Bacuna should be dropped this Saturday.

The 31-year-old only arrived at Vicarage Road in mid-December, joining the club on a free transfer amidst an injury crisis in which the club literally had one fit central midfielder at the time.

As such, many welcomed his arrival, but having featured six times for the club so far, it has unfortunately become clear why the Curacao international went half of the season without a club picking him up.

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Indeed, that is why, in recent weeks, with some central midfield options having returned from injury, and the club having signed another midfielder in Ismael Kone, that Bilic continues to turn to Bacuna.

For example, during Watford’s 2-0 away defeat at Middlesbrough a fortnight ago, Bilic hooked Kone for Bacuna at half time, and the 31-year-old then started and featured for 81 minutes during the dismal display away at Reading, where the match seemed to completely pass him by in the second half when Reading started to get on top.

Perhaps the biggest argument to drop Bacuna ahead of Saturday, though, aside from Bacuna’s own poor performances, is that young midfielder Ismael Kone is right there at the club having been signed in January.

The 20-year-old was signed for a significant fee, reported to be in the region of €8 million (£7,068,057), and despite a really promising debut away at Reading in the FA Cup, was then deployed out of position as an attacking midfielder and looking underwhelming.

Despite that, this weekend ahead of the Blackburn clash, Slaven Bilic ought to seriously consider Kone to play alongside Hamza Choudhury in the 2 midfield spots.

Unfortunately this would see Leandro Bacuna drop to the bench, however, this is a change ahead of the weekend that most Watford supporters would surely agree with.