Watford have moved swiftly to ease their midfield injury crisis and are set to sign free agent Leandro Bacuna on a deal until the end of the season.

The 31-year-old Dutch-born midfielder was released by Cardiff in the summer and has been training with the Hornets for the past few weeks, so is familiar already with his new teammates.

The Hornets are currently awaiting his international clearance forms to arrive.

The need to bring in more bodies and experience in the centre of the park was further exacerbated by Hamza Choudhury’s injury against Hull on Sunday.

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The club haven’t given an update on what that injury is or how bad, but the fact Slaven Bilic told the media after the game the player left the ground wearing a leg brace isn’t encouraging.

That injury added to the calf problem that looks likely to sideline Edo Kayembe for four or five weeks, and the Hornets were already getting used to life without long-term midfield absentees Imran Louza, Tom Cleverley and Dan Gosling.

With that latter trio all out of action until at least February, Bilic has brought in Bacuna, and he will go straight into the squad for Saturday’s game at Huddersfield, provided the necessary paperwork comes through.

Bacuna made 114 appearances for Cardiff, initially joining the club in the 2018/19 season when they were still in the Premier League.

He was virtually ever-present for the next two seasons, but after making only 15 outings last term, the Bluebirds released him in June.

Bacuna began his career with Groningen in his native Holland, clocking up more than 125 outings for the Eredivisie club.

He moved to Aston Villa in the summer of 2013, and made 89 Premier League appearances over the next three seasons, scoring seven times.

He made a further 32 appearances for the Villains when they were relegated to the Championship before Cardiff paid £3m for his services in January 2019.

Capped by Holland at Under-21 and Under-19 levels, Bacuna eventually became a full international representing Curacao, where his parents are from.

He has earned 44 caps for the Dutch Caribbean island, and scored 14 times. His most recent international action was in two friendlies against Indonesia in September, and he also played in three CONCACAF Nations League games in June.