Watford v Wigan Athletic

Watford prepare to face Wigan Athletic sweating on the fitness of influential central defender Dan Shittu who turned an ankle during the Boxing Day defeat at the hands of Arsenal.

Hamuer Bouazza's dislocated shoulder rules him out of contention and the Frenchman joins James Chambers (gash) on the sidelines alongside long term injury victims Marlon King and Clarke Carlisle.

Wigan travel south with problems of their own, and are definitely without Austrian defender, Paul Scharner who has been ruled out for up to eight weeks with a knee complaint.

Paul Jewell's attacking options are also limited and he must do without top scorer, Henri Camera who is still troubled with a knee problem while Lee McCulloch completes a three-match ban.

On the bright side, Latics Captain Arian de Zeeuw is expected to return to the line-up after recovering from a toe injury.