THE Golden Boys won the honour of hosting Notts County in the Second Round of the Carling Cup this evening (Tuesday) after seeing off Aldershot Town earlier this month.

Manager Malky Mackay fielded a strong team for the 3-0 First Round win in Hampshire and he says that tonight will be no different.

"It's going to be a tough encounter" stated the Hornets boss about the upcoming tie at Vicarage Road.

"Notts County have got experienced players who have played at Championship level it won't be too different to any other league game.

"Craig Short's there with a good friend of mine Tommy Johnson helping him.

"I'm delighted for Craig, he's got his chance. He's a good professional, worked hard and now he's come into take on Notts County.

"They are a team who have added to their group and brought lots of experience in so it will be a tough game for us.

"Even though they lost some players over the summer, they've made some good signings."

One of those signings is former Hornet Jon Harley, who left WD18 in the summer and joined the Nottingham outfit a few weeks later.

"Jon came to me and asked if he could do some pre-season training with us which he did" said Malky. The Scotsman went onto explain why Harley had decided to make the move to County.

"His family wanted to move back further north.

Jon Harley tackles Robbie Savage during his time at Watford

"They were still living there and they wanted something for him up there.

"It will be good to see him" continued Malky.

"Jon's a good man and a fantastic professional. He's was a joy to work with every day here and I'll be delighted to see him tonight."

Malky is blessed with a fully fit squad, compared to his counterpart at Notts County who is likely to be missing four first team players for tonight's game.

Rene Gilmartin is fit and available again for the Hornets after recovering from this leg injury which has kept him sidelined for the last few weeks.

The only players missing out are new recruit Josh Walker who is cup-tied and youngster Jordon Mutch who is unable to play due to terms of his loan.

The Watford manager concluded his preview by urging the Vicarage Road faithful to turn out for the Golden Boys tonight.

"I hope the fans turn out. They want to see our team and our team winning and they want to see their team at Vicarage Road.

"So far they've seen four good performances from Watford this season.

"They are a young group.  The players feed off the fans and they feed back off them, so it will hopefully be a great night for everyone."