Huddersfield Town head to Watford on Saturday hoping to bounce back from the midweek disappointment of a Capital One Cup second-round exit to Nottingham Forest at a ground where they experienced success on the final day of last season.
An inaugural Terriers goal for Joe Lolley, as well as a Danny Ward hat-trick allowed former manager Mark Robins and his charges to sign off the 2013/2014 season in style with a 4-1 win at Vicarage Road.
Having finished the season with a four-goal flourish, they started the new one by floundering in conceding four goals during the opening-day humbling by Bournemouth, but caretaker manager Mark Lillis has inspired two wins and a draw from his five matches in all competitions since.
Watford are an altogether different proposition from the side that were hit for four by Town and sit second in the Championship after winning three of their opening four games, with only third-placed Norwich City coming out on top so far.
Only Forest - who sit atop the embryonic Championship standings - can boast a better goal haul than the Hornets so far this season too, with Giuseppe Sannino's side already netting nine from their first four games so Town will have on their guard defensively.
And here is everything you need to know about the game as Town look to progress to the third round of this competition for only the second time since the promotion campaign of 2003/2004.
Kick-off
Watford v Huddersfield Town (3pm)
The likely line-ups
Watford (3-5-2): Gomes; Paredes, Angella, Hoban, Tamas, Pudil; Abdil, Tozser, Munari; Deeney, Vydra.
Huddersfield Town (4-4-2): Smithies; Hammill, Wallace, Lynch (capt), Dixon; Scannell; Butterfield, Coady, Ward; Vaughan, Wells.
Team news
Watford: Hornets boss Sannino is boosted by the return of Joel Ekstrand from a three-match ban following his dismissal in his side's only league defeat so far this season at Norwich City.
He made nine changes for his side's midweek Capital One Cup defeat to Doncaster Rovers but is expected to bring back the majority that lined up in the 4-1 success over Leeds United last week.
Huddersfield Town: Interim manager Lillis faces several injury problems for the trip to Vicarage Road as he must contend without both Tommy Smith and Lee Peltier, who are struggling with groin injuries.
Jonathan Hogg (calf), Oscar Gobern (toe) and Joe Lolley (hip) are also expected to be ruled out but the Terriers can welcome back on-loan midfielder Radoslaw Majewski to the fold after he was cup-tied for the defeat to Forest on Tuesday night.
Ones to watch
Watford: Daniel Tozser - The Hungarian may not have been the most exciting of the Hornets' additions during their summer recruitment drive but his role in front of the back four has been paramount to their impressive start.
He will look to nullify Jacob Butterfield's bursts from midfield and keep his side on the front foot with clever, sensible passing.
Huddersfield Town: Paul Dixon - With Jack Robinson arriving and his first-team position suddenly looking slightly less secure, the Scot is due a big performance and with the doubts over who will be fielded on the other flank, it is imperative he provides Town with an attacking outlet on the left.
Irrespective of whether Ward or Bunn play ahead of him, both will look to cut onto their right side and it will open space for the left-back to bomb on into and he can help exploit the fact the Hornets have just one right-sider in Juan Carlos Paredes in their 3-5-2 setup.
What the bookies say
Along with both the form guide and the league table, the Hornets are 7/10 for all three points, while Town are considered clear outsiders at 18/5, the draw, meanwhile, can be backed at 11/4, all with SkyBet.
Troy Deeney is the favourite to open the scoring at 7/2, while for the long odds of the day, you can get 100/1 on Danny Ward to repeat his hat-trick exploits of this corresponding fixture last season.
Last time they met
Town came away with all three points from this corresponding fixture last term as they signed off their 2013/2014 campaign with a bang.
They secured a 4-1 win as the precocious Lolley came of age and Ward netted a stunning hat-trick rendered Deeney's late spot-kick mere consolation.
There was a win apiece last year as the Hornets came out on top 2-1 at the John Smith's Stadium thanks to goals from Fernando Forestieri and Daniel Pudil after Ward had given Town a 17th-minute lead.
Watch: Town reporter Doug Thomson on Town's testing trip to Watford
Match facts
Head-to-Head
- Watford had won the last three matches between these two sides before the 4-1 loss back in May.
- The Hornets have come out on top in just one of the last six meetings at Vicarage Road in all competitions, however.
- Their only home win since 1977 was 4-0 in the Championship in January in 2012/2013.
Watford
- In their last five league games at Vicarage Road, three goals have been scored by either Sannino's side or the visitors - with Town the sole team to achieve that with their final-day success last term.
Huddersfield Town
- The Terriers have only lost one of their last four away games in the Championship - the 3-1 reverse at Cardiff City.
What the managers say
Giuseppe Sannino: "Every match for me is very important and every training session is very important.
"Now, we are only thinking about winning the Huddersfield match and I want to give the fans a great spectacle on the pitch because these fans are excellent for us at home or away.”
Mark Lillis: "I got told on Tuesday I would be taking the Watford game so we have been preparing for that.
"My only focus after the Tuesday game was getting the players prepared for another Championship game and more points to play for.
"My personal belief is that after that game I will speak with the chairman on the Sunday and we will go forward from there."
Man in the middle
Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire). The 43-year-old has overseen just one match so far this season - the 2-2 draw between West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland on the opening day of the Premier League.
He was most recently in charge of a game involving Town in the 2-0 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in February of this year and he also officiated the 3-2 win over rivals Leeds United in 2013/2014.
Tom says
"This promises to be a difficult test for Town as they look to move further away from the early relegation zone and their performances against Reading and Charlton Athletic prove that they are more than capable of mixing with those further up the league.
"But a trip to one of the in-form sides in the division, certainly in the league at least, is a different proposition and so is facing a strikeforce blessed with pace, power and goal threat.
"With both Peltier and Smith absent, Lillis could be forced to field something of a makeshift right side to his defence, but Murray Wallace has excelled in recent games to his credit.
"But there are certainly positives for Town to take into the game, namely the likely inclusion of James Vaughan up front after his prolonged spell on the sidelines and two strikers is surely a better bet than just the one in Wells.
"Another is that they ought to know the 3-5-2 formation, and how it works, inside out at the club having utilised it regularly last season, it could just be something that plays into their hands though I fear the Hornets' firepower will see them over the line. 2-1."
