Dennis and Sarr ruled out of Watford's Premier League fixture against Everton

Watford manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed they will come up against Everton in a Premier League fixture without the services of striker Emmanuel Dennis and winger Ismaila Sarr.

The Hornets, who were relegated from the top-flight after losing 1-0 to Crystal Palace in their last top-flight assignment, will welcome the Toffees at Vicarage Road on Wednesday in their third-last match of the season.

However, the 74-year-old former England manager has outlined multiple potential absentees while delivering team news for the fixture with Nigeria's Dennis and Senegal's Sarr among those affected.

"With [Tom] Cleverley, it's the injury he received in the game, with [Emmanuel] Dennis and [Ismaila] Sarr it's a knee problem that they've reported which has ruled them out, and with [Joshua] King and [Kiko] Femenia, it's sickness. We were hoping it would pass but it hasn't yet," Hodgson said as quoted by the club's official website.

"[Juraj] Kucka missed the last game due to a knee problem and will miss the next one for the same problem."

Hodgson has further confirmed the absence of Cameroon defender Nicolas Nkoulou.

"One has been injured for the last couple of weeks, [Imran] Louza," Hodgson continued. "[Nicolas] Nkoulou is now injured, Shaq Forde, a young forward we like, has turned his ankle over in training, and other players that were involved at the weekend.

"We're hoping [Joao Pedro] will be okay. He trained, it's the first time he has trained but we will be hoping on him. We will have a team consisting of the senior players at the club, who are fit, and I won't really be having to leave anybody from the senior group out of the team because they'll be needed on the pitch."

The former Palace manager is confident the injury crisis will give other players in the squad a chance to come in and make their case.

"I was hoping to play a similar team, but we've lost so many players that we find ourselves in the middle of an injury crisis. There'll be an opportunity for some players to come in and make their case that perhaps I should have been picking them," explained Hodgson.

Dennis last made an appearance in a league game on May 7, playing 73 minutes for Watford against Palace in a 1-0 defeat. The 24-year-old Super Eagle has netted 10 Premier League goals in this campaign from 33 appearances and played 2,591 minutes.

Meanwhile, Sarr has notched five top-flight goals making him tied as the team's second-top league scorer, and has chipped in with two assists. The Lion of Teranga last scored in the league in the 4-1 win against Manchester United on November 20.