Watford's Tom Dele-Bashiru suffers another ankle injury that will sideline him for the rest of the season

FORMER Flying Eagles midfielder Tom Dele-Bashiru will be out of action for the rest of the season after his club Watford revealed that the diagnosis of his current ankle injury indicates that he will not be able to play for several months.

Dele-Bashiru, 23, has not played in the English Championship since damaging ankle ligaments in the 4-0 defeat at Swansea on December 30 last year.  At the time, he was expected to be out for a couple of months but it appears that he has picked up another ankle problem in training.

Last season, Dele-Bashiru spent the year on loan with Reading and it had been hoped that he would have a successful run in the Watford side following his return. However, has made only six appearances this season and with the ankle injury there will not be any more in the current campaign..

Watford, four points outside the top six, take on Preston, eight points off the play-off places, at Vicarage Road this weekend, looking for what would be only a second win in eight Championship matches. Dele-Bashiru had been seen as one of the players to help the side gain promotion to the English Premier League.

Dele-Bashiru, who featured for Nigeria in the 2019 U-20 World Cup in Poland, scoring the Flying Eagles' third goal in their opening 4-0 victory over Qatar, joined Watford from Manchester City on a six-year contract that same year. During his time with Manchester City, where he began his career, Dele-Bashiru gained experience of European football in the Uefa Youth League, while also featuring in the Premier League too.