Watford have an almost full strength squad heading into Thursday night's game with Burnley, with the exception of Gerard Deulofeu, Daryl Janmaat and Isaac Success, all of whom will miss the remainder of the season.

Speaking on Tuesday afternoon, assistant coach Craig Shakespeare said his side had little more than a few aches and pains to deal with, as they look to build on their draw against Leicester from the weekend.

During that match both Kiko Femenia and Adam Masina were taken off with cramps, but Shakespeare insisted those were merely precautionary measures rather than anything to be too concerned about.

"We've got more or less a clean bill of health," he said. "Of course we've got some aches and pains still from the weekend's efforts, but we're okay.

"With Kiko, he's had a lot of history with hamstrings, he was fine, it was more of a precaution. With Adam it was a bit more cramp. Both players have trained today so we'll assess them again in the morning. It gives us another 24 hours before the game. We won't take any chances with players, but we know that there's going to be a bit of fatigue, especially after the first game."

One player who is looking to challenge for a return in the starting lineup is Craig Cathcart, who Shakespeare explained missed the Leicester match due to a lack of fitness and the form of his defensive colleagues.

The assistant coach hopes the competition for places will help the team progress.

"The form of the other two are very good and competition for places is good," he said.

"Craig [Cathcart], yes, did miss a bit of training. He's back fully there now and the competition in places, especially in the centre half position, is healthy."

Watford go into the game tomorrow four days after their last match, while Burnley will have had just two days to prepare following their 5-0 pummelling at the hands of Manchester City on Monday.

Nevertheless, Shakespeare is refusing to believe that there is any significant advantage to be had and knows the game will still be a tough challenge.

"We know that Sean will re-galvanise them and get them up for the game," he said.

"If you had an ideal world you'd like the rest because we are playing every four or five days and in some cases three days, so in an ideal situation, you want the players to get the recovery. I'm sure they'll be fine, they'll be well up for the game, knowing what they're about and what they have been about.

"We don't get carried away because I've said before with Burnley losing as they did in the manner and the scoreline, we know how Sean will motivate his players and history says that Burnley are where they are for a reason so we don't take them for granted, we know it's going to be a real tough encounter, but one that our lads are looking forward to and not only that, we'll be ready for the challenge."