Mark Hughes says that he has plans to deal with the dangerous Watford duo of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo. Watford have exceeded expectations in the 2015-16 campaign and it has largely to do with these two players.

They have combined to devastating effect with the latter getting 14 goals already.Deeney, meanwhile, scored when Stoke City last came up against Watford. Hughes says that he has devised a plan to deal with the duo. He also acknowledged the managerial tactics of Quique Sanchez Flores as being brilliant. Hughes says that Flores would be considered for the PFA manager of the year award had it not been for Leicester City.

Watford were one of the favourites to get relegated. However, they have not been in a dogfight since the start of the season and they are just three points away from reaching the magical figure of 40 points for newly promoted clubs. Apart from doing well in the Premier League, the club has also reached the semifinals of the FA Cup. Since they do not have to worry about the league, Watford are expected to place their full concentration on reaching the FA Cup final. Stoke know a thing or two about reaching Wembley to play in a FA Cup semi-final as an underdog.

“We have a game plan that incorporates things we need to do well to stop the better players in the opposition having an influence and that will be the case against Watford.The two guys up top have had a big influence on what they’ve done. Ighalo has scored 14 league goals, and Deeney hasn’t scored as many but has created a lot. They are a good pairing who work well off each other really well, and certainly they are something we’ll talk about before the game,” said Hughes.