Watford's Abdoulaye Doucoure will miss Newcastle and maybe Tottenham, says Javi Gracia
Kiko Femenia and Sebastian Prodl out for FA Cup game at St James' Park, but Will Hughes and Craig Cathcart are available for selection
Thursday 24 January 2019 18:56, UK
Abdoulaye Doucoure will miss Watford's FA Cup fourth-round trip to Newcastle, and is doubtful for the match against Tottenham at Wembley, says Javi Gracia.
The 26-year-old French midfielder revealed last week that he is planning to leave Watford, and says there is interest from Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain.
However, Sky Sports News has been told that Watford have no intentions of selling their £39m-rated reigning Player of the Season, who they bought from Rennes in 2016 for £8m.
Doucoure is currently sidelined with a knee injury, and Watford boss Gracia confirmed on Thursday that he will miss Saturday's FA Cup meeting at St James' Park - but could also miss the trip to Tottenham on January 30.
"Doucoure, last week when I spoke with medical staff, they said he could be available but we need to wait," Gracia said. "He needs more time to recover his knee. I think he will be available in one week, but we will see.
"In this moment, I don't know [if he will miss the Tottenham game]. It depends on his evolution."
When asked if Watford were confident of keeping Doucoure in the January transfer window amid interest from PSG, Gracia added: "I think so.
"I hear news about him, but in this moment he is here, focused on his recovery, and I'm sure he's only thinking about the next game."
Sky Sports News understands Watford are in talks with Lyon over a possible deal for Ivory Coast international forward Maxwel Cornet.
When asked about those rumours, Gracia said: "I don't want to say something about players that I don't know anything about. I prefer to focus on our players and to do my job."
Watford made 11 changes in their last FA Cup match, a 2-0 victory over non-league Woking, and Gracia confirmed that he is once again likely to rotate his squad.
"It's true in the last FA Cup game we changed a lot of players, but that was the best for us in that moment," he added. "We played a lot of games, five in 15 days.
"In this case, it is the same. We try to choose the best options. We are going to change some players, but in this moment I don't want to say if we're going to change 11, 10, eight, or two.
"We've played two games against Newcastle and we didn't win. Now, with different players, maybe we can do it.
"We are focused on the Premier League and the FA Cup - both competitions. We would like to play more games in the FA Cup, it is a short road to enjoy and maybe to be able to play a final."
