Jamal Lewis and Vakoun Bayo return to the Watford squad ahead of tomorrow’s game away at Bristol City.

Lewis has missed the last four league and cup games due to injury but is fit again, while Bayo has now served his three-match suspension for the red card he picked up against Stoke.

“We have no new injury problems. The news is positive with Jamal Lewis, as he has trained all week and will be available,” said Valerien Ismael.

“Ken Sema had his first training session today but this game comes too soon, for sure next week after another full week he should be back for the cup game.

“Then the only other players who are ruled out are Kayembe and Ngakia.

“You have to feel for Kayembe, it’s a tough situation to miss the African Cup of Nations. It means a lot to him to play for his country in a big tournament.

“He was really disappointed, but we have tried to show him a lot of love and that we will give him the time he needs to recover.

“It’s not a bad injury and he should be back soon, but it’s clear that in his situation in the first few days when you come back it’s the head that is down.

“But he is getting better, the smile is back on his face, and we are here to support him.”

Bayo returning means Watford have two No.9s to pick from, but not three – Rhys Healey’s move to Huddersfield was confirmed this morning.

“He came to me a few weeks ago and made it clear he had an offer and he wanted to leave the club,” said the Watford boss.

“At that point he hadn’t played a lot and he wasn’t happy. We said to him that we would need him, and he stayed focussed on us and began to play.

“But when a player wants to leave and he makes it clear, then you have to assess the situation and see what is best for the club.

“I think it’s a deal that will help us to go on the market now, and to make sure we can bring some players in.”

It’s less than a month since City handed the Hornets a 4-1 drubbing at Vicarage Road.

“We had a bad day that day. Of the four goals we conceded, we made three individual mistakes and lost the ball in our half without any big pressure,” said Ismael.

“It was a warning for us, and the expectation now is that we are playing better with more focus, and we will take more right decisions.

“We focus on our performance because we know in the first game with Bristol City our performance wasn’t right.

“We can and will do it better, and we know exactly what we have to do.

“The players don’t reminding, they knew straight away after the home game it was a bad day.”