Watford play host to Rotherham United on Saturday afternoon looking for the win which would strengthen their hold of a Championship playoff spot.
At a time when the Hornets sit in third position in the standings, Rotherham are 19th after last weekend's stunning victory over promotion-chasing Blackburn Rovers.
Match preview
© Reuters
On the back of a run of one win in five matches before a transfer window, Slaven Bilic may have feared for his Watford future heading into January, aware that the club's owners are not known for their patience.
However, back-to-back Championship wins over Norwich City and Blackpool have eased any pressure on the Croatian, whose side now sit as best of the rest behind Burnley and Sheffield United.
Trailing the latter by 11 points, Bilic will only have eyes for securing control of third, and his team keeping six clean sheets in eight Championship fixtures will give him confidence.
That has occurred at a time when Bilic has had to contend with selection issues, but the arrivals of Canada international Ismael Kone and Benfica right-back Joao Ferreira have boosted his options.
Although Watford boast the sixth-best home record in the division, they have only prevailed in two of their most recent five fixtures in the second tier.
© Reuters
From the perspective of Matt Taylor, his Rotherham future would have felt far from secure when his side lost 4-1 at Ipswich Town in the FA Cup third round.
While that remains the case to a certain extent, a 4-0 win over Blackburn has earned Taylor some breathing space, Rotherham now back to being four points clear of the bottom three.
Ahead of that clean sheet, Rotherham had conceded 18 goals in seven fixtures, while their four-goal return almost matched the five strikes that had been scored in the previous 630 minutes
The Yorkshire outfit make the trip to Hertfordshire having lost their last four away fixtures in all competitions, but they do have a 1-0 victory at Sheffield United under their belts as recently as November 8.
Team News
© Reuters
Bilic may opt to switch to a 3-4-3 formation for this fixture with another new arrival in the form of Matheus Martins potentially earning a start in the final third.
Ferreira may also be brought in for his full debut, with Jeremy Ngakia and Hamza Choudhury possibly dropping down to the substitutes' bench.
Despite his debut goal last week, 17-year-old Tobi Adeyemo should remain among the replacements.
Barring any injury issues, Rotherham are expected to start with the same lineup from the win over Blackburn.
However, Sean Morrison will be assessed after the defender came through his first 90 minutes since suffering a serious knee injury 11 months ago.
Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Troost-Ekong, Sierralta, Cathcart; Ferreira, Kone, Gaspar, Morris; Sarr, Bayo, Martins
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Peltier, Morrison, Humphreys, Hjelde; Odoffin, Barlaser, Rathbone; Ogbene, Washington, Ferguson
We say: Watford 2-0 Rotherham United
Rotherham travel to Vicarage Road on a high and feeling capable of earning at least a share of the spoils. However, Watford look like a team ready to churn out some hard-earned results, and we expect to see another victory here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Darren Plant
