Quique Sanchez Flores wants Watford to make a plan for Danny Welbeck to begin playing first-team football.

The former Arsenal striker was absent for the visit of his former side and after the game the new head coach said there was still an issue with his fitness.

Since joining in the summer, Welbeck has been limited to appearances from the bench in the league, but did manage 90 minutes in the Carabao Cup against Coventry.

However, Sanchez Flores insists it will take time for the England international to return to his best.

"We need a plan with Danny," said the head coach.

"We need to recuperate the best version of this player. Now, with the impact sometimes, he's a little bit in pain, so we need to clarify what is the problem.

"What we want is Danny Welbeck ready. If he needs to train three days and stop two days, it's okay, he's really strong and fast and we need him, but we need to plan.

"Now, basically for the first match the most important thing is to take the players who are more fit, or with more minutes played, or this kind of thing because it's more safe I think, for the immediate performance."

One of Watford's summer signings who did feature against Arsenal was Ismaila Sarr, who replaced Andre Gray as a lone striker.

The Senegalese attacker has previously spent more time playing on the wing, but Sanchez Flores believes he can be most threatening playing as a striker.

"I think the best quality of Sarr is of course his skill," he said.

"The velocity is something very pure and very interesting for us. This kind of player is giving us a break in lines - you put one as a striker, a good striker with big velocity between defence and midfielders.

"He will run, separate the lines and find space. He's there really to run. He's very young, so it's very interesting when he's playing because at the start he was a little bit shy, but then little by little he was more relaxed, more confident and to see the progress was really good and good for him."