Quique Sanchez Flores admits Watford need a plan for Danny Welbeck.
After joining from Arsenal in the summer, Welbeck is still struggling to get back to full fitness following a serious injury last season.
"We need a plan with Danny," said the Hornets manager.
"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."