Tom Cleverley's return to football will still take a while, but Danny Welbeck is making good progress according to Watford head coach Nigel Pearson.

Ahead of the Hornets' trip to Bournemouth on Sunday, the boss said that he was encouraged by Welbeck's return to training for the first time since he hobbled out of the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in October but explained that Cleverley is still some way off making an appearance.

“We’ve still got some long-termers who I have to accept they’re not going to be available for a while,” said Pearson.

“Danny Welbeck though is back out on the grass, so he’s making good progress and Cleverley’s still a while away. I don’t want to really put too much of a time frame on that because when he’s back I want him back for good, I don’t want to put players at risk just for the sake of another couple of weeks to make sure they’re absolutely right.”

Other first-team players are nearing a return, including Will Hughes and Kiko Femenia who could be back next week, but won't be available for the trip to the Vitality, while other situations are improving.

“[Sebatsian] Prodl’s making progress, [Daryl] Janmaat’s making progress, Will Hughes we don’t think will be available for this weekend,” said Pearson.

“We’ve got a few less serious ones who we’ll assess over the next couple of days to see whether they can be included for the trip, but we’re just managing. “[Roberto] Pereyra being available now because the red card was rescinded means there’s another player that we’ve got available for this weekend.”