Preview: Cardiff City vs. Watford

Watford will be looking to return to winning ways when they face Cardiff City in the Championship on Sunday.

The Hornets travel to South Wales knowing that victory would mean that they finish 2014 in the playoff positions, but they must bounce back from a disappointing 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers on Boxing Day.

That ended a run of three straight victories for Slavisa Jokanovic's side, who now sit just one point clear of seventh-placed Norwich City in the race for the top six.

This is the first of three consecutive away fixtures for Watford, with an FA Cup tie against Premier League leaders Chelsea next up before a trip to face Huddersfield Town.

The Hornets have been impressive on the road recently, however, winning their last two away games, keeping clean sheets in both and scoring six goals in the process.

Jokanovic will have Gabriele Angella back available following suspension, while Gianni Munari and Troy Deeney have also overcome recent knocks and are fit to start.

Joel Ekstrand remains sidelined with a back injury, however, while Odion Ighalo may once again have to settle for a place on the bench, despite hitting the woodwork twice in a cameo against Wolves.

Cardiff are among a cluster of teams chasing Watford for the final playoff place, although a miserable December so far has hampered their chances.

The Bluebirds are yet to win this month, drawing against Rotherham United and Charlton Athletic and losing to Bournemouth and Brentford.

Russell Slade's side were undone by a late screamer from Johann Berg Gudmundsson on Boxing Day as 10-man Charlton rescued a point at The Valley to leave Cardiff seven points adrift of the top six.

They have, however, been impressive in front of their own fans this season, with just three teams having amassed more points at home in the Championship.

Cardiff have a large squad to play with during the festive schedule, and Slade could opt to make a few changes, with Federico Macheda, Fabio and Kadeem Harris all pushing for recalls having been dropped to the bench on Boxing Day. Anthony Pilkington is not expected to have recovered from a hamstring injury, though.

Cardiff:

Recent form: WWDLLD

Possible starting lineup: Marshall; Brayford, Turner, Morrison, Fabio; Adeyemi, Gunnarsson, Whittingham, Noone; Jones, Macheda

Watford:

Recent form: LLWWWL

Possible starting lineup: Gomes; Cathcart, Angella, Bassong; Anya, Abdi, Munari, Tozser, Paredes; Vydra, Deeney

Sports Mole says: 1-1