Craig Shakespeare confirmed the three players who were left out of last weekend’s match due to health and safety precautions are back available for Saturday’s trip to Chelsea.
Only Gerard Deulofeu (cruciate ligament), Daryl Janmaat (knee) and Isaac Success (Achilles) will be unavailable for the trip to Stamford Bridge, with the rest of the squad all back in full training.
“It was a club decision [to leave Andre Gray, Domingos Quina & Nathaniel Chalobah out], it wasn’t anything to do with the Premier League,” said the Assistant Head Coach.
“That was a club decision for the health and safety of all our own players and everybody else and we thought it was the right decision at the time.
“They have apologised, they’re back in and training with us and they are fit for selection. They’ve settled back into it, they know they’ve made a mistake and they’re keen to make up for it.”
Looking ahead to Chelsea, Shakespeare is aware of the impact Frank Lampard’s substitutes have made on matches since the restart and wants the Hornets to use their strength in depth to similar effect.
“I think it can be down to the quality of your squad and of course we all know Chelsea have good quality in depth and they’ve used it to good intents so far,” he said.
“I think if you look at the form we showed earlier on and our performances, and I don’t want to harp back, but we know what we’re capable of.
“We know what performances these players have put in in the past and we know their attributes. The focus has to be on us, not anybody else.”
Pearson and Shakespeare’s squad includes many experienced heads but also plenty of youth, and the Assistant Head Coach knows both will be important in the final six matches as long as everyone has the right attitude.
“There has to be a drive and a determination to succeed,” he said.
“We all know what’s at stake, we’ve got some experienced professionals here, and even with the younger boys we make them aware of their responsibilities.
“We know what they can do and drive us on. We have to have that drive to get a result and that’s what we’ll be doing.”
