Watford could reduce Cardiff City's lead at the top of the Championship table to five points on Saturday if they beat the Welsh side at Vicarage Road.

The Hornets are just one point behind second-placed Hull City following their 1-0 win at the KC Stadium on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a victory for Cardiff would give Malky Mackay's team a significant boost in the race for automatic promotion.

Fitz Hall, Tommie Hoban and Nyron Nosworthy all remain sidelined for the hosts, while Manuel Almunia is expected to face a late fitness test.

Mark Hudson, Frazier Campbell and Nicky Maynard are all missing for Cardiff, who are likely to partner Heidar Helguson with Craig Bellamy in attack.

Recent form:

Watford: DWLLDW

Cardiff: LDDWLW

Possible lineups

Watford: Bond; Doyley, Ekstrand, Cassetti; Anya, Abdi, Battocchio, Chalobah, Pudil; Forestieri, Deeney

Cardiff: Marshall; Connolly, Barnett, Turner, Taylor; Kim, Gunnarsson, Mutch, Conway; Helguson, Bellamy

Sports Mole says: 1-1

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