Watford head coach Javi Gracia has said that Troy Deeney is one of a number of players he could see going on to manage the club in the future.

Speaking ahead of today's difficult trip to champions Manchester City, the Spaniard once again stressed the importance of Deeney to the club and said he, as well as a few others, would not be out of place in a coaching role.

He said: “There are players now in this moment. I see (Tom) Cleverley, I see (Adrian) Mariappa, I see Troy, I see (Adam) Masina.

“In this moment if you ask me I tell you they can be coaches.

“Troy has been very important for us from the beginning and he’s going to be important until the end. I’m not very interested in some stats to have my own opinion and in this case, I know how important Troy is for us.

“I know he needs his teammates to be able to show his characteristics and all the things he can do.

“Troy is important from the moment when you arrive. He’s been in this team a long time, he knows better than anyone the club and all the things happening here.”

Impressing alongside the captain of late has been Andre Gray, who has scored winning goals in both of Watford’s last two home matches, despite not starting.

However, Gracia was keeping his team selection against City close to his chest, with a big choice to make.

He said: “I don’t like to speak about what we are going to do, [Deeney and Gray] it’s a very good option for us.

“They started playing well together at the beginning of the season and getting very good results.

“In the last game when they played together Andre scored the last goal in the last minutes.

“In other games we’ve played with other plays like Gerard Deulofeu for example. He and Deeney played against Cardiff and scored five goals.

“I take the best decision thinking only what is the best for the team. I always have to take these difficult decisions.”