Watford manager Slaven Bilic is reconsidering whether to start star forward Ismaila Sarr at Ashton Gate on Saturday, just two days after insisting the Senegal international will play.
This weekend's fixtures are the last in the Premier League and Championship before the World Cup break, with individuals selected by their countries joining up with their national teams on Sunday in preparation for the tournament.
Sarr was confirmed in the Senegal squad on Friday morning, alongside former City striker Famara Diedhiou, but earlier in the week Bilic was adamant that he wouldn’t rest the 24-year-old, who has six goals in 16 games for the Hornets, against Bristol City.
However, speaking ahead of the game, the Croatian has now softened his stance and while Sarr wants to play, he doesn’t want to rob him of a place at the World Cup due to an injury sustained over the 90 minutes.
“I don’t want him to miss the World Cup, and players are definitely thinking about it,” Bilic told the Watford Observer. “I spoke to other players who are going to the World Cup – Croatians for instance – and they are all a little bit worried about injuries.
“I have nothing but praise for Sarr though. Ismaila Sarr has played in every game since I arrived. The only time we have subbed him is when games have been done in our favour: when we were 3-0 up at Stoke, against Luton when it was 4-0, and then Reading after we scored our second goal.
“He has played every other minute and he has been unbelievable for me. He deserves big praise. Tomorrow we will see. He wants to play but that’s my decision and we will see tomorrow.”
Sarr’s omission would be a considerable boost for a City defence who have just two clean sheets in their last 10 matches and are without key figures Tomas Kalas and Kal Naismith, while Timm Klose could be dropped following a poor performance against Lincoln City in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup exit.
Bilic’s hand could, however, also be forced by a bug that is running through the camp as although he didn’t divulge who was affected, could rule a number of first-team players out.
City dealt with a flu bug that ran through their squad last month, affecting a number of players in the build-up to their Championship fixture against Swansea City.
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