00:01Team news ahead of Watford against Albion tomorrow night, Wednesday night at Vicarage Road.
00:06There's one headline bit of news that midfielder Toby Collier, the Manchester United lone midfielder,
00:13will be sidelined for tomorrow night's trip to Watford.
00:15Bit of a blow, I don't think it's a massive surprise.
00:17We probably saw it coming off the back of Saturday's win over Preston at home.
00:22He trudged off, didn't he? I think just 10 minutes into the second half, Collier.
00:25It was his full home debut, his first start at the Hawthorns.
00:29I thought he was performing pretty well, but came off with a little bit of a hamstring problem that is something he's felt before.
00:35I think a parent club Manchester United, a bit of a sort of historical one,
00:38but scans have come back and revealed that he won't be involved tomorrow night.
00:42I don't get the impression from Ryan Mason speaking with him this morning at the press conference
00:47that it's going to be too serious for Collier.
00:49Feels unlikely he'll feature at Ipswich on Saturday either.
00:52Obviously a quick turnaround between two away games and then Albion have a week before another game,
00:57but it certainly won't feature tomorrow night down at Vicarage Road.
01:01As I say, Ipswich feels unlikely, but a blow really because, you know,
01:05Collier is a central midfield option, a natural one at that, that there aren't too many of.
01:09So, it'll be interesting.
01:11It sort of points to Alex Mowat and Jason Malumby starting a game, doesn't it?
01:14Can they play in the two games back-to-back?
01:18You know, Ryan Mason, Albion will certainly hope so.
01:20Usman Diakite is another option, isn't he?
01:22Maybe Christian Bielik, a sort of defensive-minded midfielder, obviously signed in the summer from Blues.
01:27You've got Callum Stiles, the left-back, who can fill in there.
01:29So, there are options, but not too many of those exact natural sort of like-for-like centre midfielders.
01:36Aside from that, Albion have got club captain Jed Wallace missing with a little calf problem.
01:39Don't think that's too serious.
01:41And Isaac Price, one of Saturday's goal scorers, came off late with a bit of a dead leg.
01:46He's fine and ready to go tomorrow night.
01:48So, that's a boost to have, obviously, Price involved.
01:51I wonder how many changes we might see down at Watford tomorrow.
01:55I think, you know, it's probably unlikely that Josh Madger will lead the line again twice in a row after he's come back from a lengthy layoff.
02:02So, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Hegeber up front, would it?
02:04But, obviously, Ryan Mason's thinking about the schedule.
02:06You know, the three-game week, the fact that there's another big away game on Saturday.
02:10There are things to mull over, certainly.
02:12Finally, it's Javi Grafias, the new Watford returning head coach, his first home game back at Vicarage Road.
02:19He managed Watford between 2018 and 2019, took them to an FA Cup final and was reappointed a week or so ago after Paolo Palazzini, I believe is the pronunciation.
02:30Forgive me on that.
02:31I haven't got that in front of me.
02:33Uruguayan, who Watford appointed in the summer, managed just 10 games at the helm.
02:36So, Grafias back, the Spaniard, popular around those parts, of course.
02:41You know, 18 months or so in charge last time, a bit longer.
02:45By Watford's standards, that's a long serving, isn't it?
02:47So, he's back and it's his first home game tomorrow night against the Albion.
02:52Ryan Mason actually pointed out something quite interesting in that all away games so far for Albion,
02:56there's been a bit sort of extra going on it, extra riding on it so far this season.
03:00You know, he pointed out how Stoke were top of the league, how it was Wrexham's first home game, things like that.
03:05One or two others, Borough were top of the league as well, I think.
03:08So, yeah, he's noticed that.
03:10You know, there'll be a bit of extra energy at Vicarage Road tomorrow for Watford, certainly.
03:14Grafias, by the way, opened up with his first game back with a defeat on Saturday at Sheffield United, a 1-0 defeat.
03:22Notice Watford have conceded first in seven games in a row, by the way.
03:26So, you know, obviously sometimes struggle with their starts, but let's see about that.
03:30That's something Albion can hopefully exploit.
03:32Watford are better at home, though, and their three victories so far this season have come in front of their home fans.
03:37So we'll be down there with all the coverage, all the pre-match coverage, the preview stuff,
03:42and obviously all the match action from Vicarage Road and all the reaction and fallout on Expressandstar.com.
03:48Keep your eyes peeled.
03:49I'm about to go and write up the team news, predicted side, some more thoughts on Ryan Mason, stuff like that.
03:54I've already written about Alex Mowat this morning.
03:56You can read about, you know, read that now.
03:58He starred the weekend, didn't he?
04:00And Ryan Mason has told me this morning he has no qualms at all, no concerns about Mason.
04:06You know, not one of the squad's younger players going for a three-game week for a busy period like this.
04:11Obviously, he wasn't involved in Millwall, which wasn't a good afternoon for the Baggies.
04:15But yeah, all the coverage online at the usual place, Expressandstar.com.
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