Watford head coach Marco Silva has admitted that club captain Troy Deeney is unlikely to be fit in time for the start of the Premier League season.
The 29-year-old, who missed the Hornets' Austrian training camp earlier this month, had surgery on a groin injury on July 22.
"We'll see - for the first match it is not easy," Silva told Sky Sports News. "I believe, maybe unavailable for the first match of the season.
"Of course he started to work with us but had to stop for the surgery. He stopped training and when he is ready [and fit] he will come back and help us, like in the last few years."
Deeney, on Watford's books since 2010, was influential in the club's campaign last season, scoring 10 goals and providing four assists in 37 games.