Troy Deeney believes Aaron Ramsey 'bottled it' for the first goal against Watford

Watford striker Troy Deeney believes Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey "bottled it" against the Hornets when he turned his back on the free-kick, which deflected off his leg and past Petr Cech into the goal. The goal was the first of the two quick setbacks suffered by the Gunners. The north London club conceded one more goal after Ramsey failed to clear a rogue throw in by Gabriel.

Ramsey was substituted soon after with a calf injury which should see him out of action for at least three weeks, with the gunners struggling with a lack of midfield cover for their game against Hull City. Arsenal also lost their game against Chelsea following the Watford debacle. They are currently 12 points adrift of the leaders, all but ending their hopes of a title challenge yet again.

"I think he bottled it a little bit; Ramsey's mistake was our blessing," said Deeney, as quoted by the Telegraph. "I have come up with Sean Dyche and Malky Mackay and if we had turned our back on the ball like that, they would have had strong words with us."

Mohamed Elneny will be back into the side after his international commitments with Egypt and is likely to be drafted into the squad against Hull, with Francis Coquelin the only other midfielder present in the squad. Granit Xhaka is suspended but will be available for the fifth round of the FA Cup against Sutton United next weekend.

On the attacking front, Danny Welbeck is getting back into full fitness while Lucas Perez missed the trip to Chelsea with a slight ankle problem. Olivier Giroud was also suffering from a knock and was thereby kept on the bench against the Blues, with Alexis Sanchez starting through the middle. Meanwhile, Hector Bellerin is still a doubt for their next game, having been clattered into by Marcos Alonso.