THESE days, cup competitions have a whole new magic - the opportunity to blood in the next generation of Hornets.

Tonight will be no different, with several of Aidy Boothroyd's young charges expected to be involved against Bristol Rovers.

Lining up alongside them, Damien Francis will use the cup clash as an opportunity to build on his match fitness at the moment. Hopefully, that won't be the case for long.

Elsewhere, boss Boothroyd is expected is put rookie 'keeper Scott Loach between the sticks to offer him his first competitve start for the Golden Boys.

Francis got a mere couple of minutes action on Saturday at Selhurst Park and now tonight will provide him with the opportunity to build upon that.

He said: "I was only on the pitch for a couple of minutes and I don't even think I got a touch of the ball, but it's all about accumulating time on the pitch at the moment. Before Saturday, I hadn't played since January so it was good to be back on the pitch.

"Even in pre-season, the most I have played was half an hour against MK Dons, so I really need to get my match fitness up and tonight's game will be a great opportunity for me to do that."

We saw Francis return of course late last year, but a setback saw him ruled out once more just when the Hornets needed him most for the promotion push.

"My setback in January was a case of a bit of fluid on my knee joint, so I had to have another operation on that and then recover again. Hopefully I won't have to go through that again this time.

"The whole rehabilitation process has been very frustrating. There have been bitter, bad days when it's all seemed to be going so slowly and it's been good for me to have Gareth Williams alongside me every step of the way with the same injury.

"He had only just joined when he did his knee and we went through the whole process together and we got really close. For me, it will be a great day when we can both be on the pitch playing together."

For tonight though, it's all about the Carling Cup and Francis believes that this is a competition that Watford can progress in.

"The Carling Cup is still an important competition for us and it gives some of the younger players a chance to show what they can do. It's also great for someone like me who's coming back from injury. We're still quite lucky in that we can mix it up and give some of the players a rest and give others a run out.

"For me, every cup competition has got a buzz about it. There's only one chance to go through or you're out, so it has an element of risk about it.

"We've got a good chance this year. I think last weekend showed that we can play a bit and the players seemed to enjoy themselves. It's a style that I enjoy playing, so I'm coming back just at the right time, although after such a long lay off, any time would be a good time for me to come back!"

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