Nigel Pearson has told his players to prepare for an "interesting experience" when they face Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup third round replay this evening.

The Hornets were due to play Rovers away last Tuesday, but heavy rain ruined the pitch at Prenton Park, meaning the game had to be postponed until tonight.

Rovers played a home match at the ground last weekend and footage from that game showed the pitch to be far from the conditions the Hornets are used to playing on and Pearson knows the surface will have an impact on the game.

"It will mean that we'll have to manage the game better," he said.

"I think in terms of when you play on pitches that are very difficult, you might make more mistakes. I think it's important not to overplay in the middle third. The meaningful action is always going to be in both penalty boxes but I think what we'll find is both sides might be a little bit more direct just to play to the conditions because that's what you've got to do in these situations and it'll be interesting to see how our players cope with that.

"That's a very open-minded view at how we go into a game like this. There's no point looking at it with anything other than that's what we're going to have to deal with, so let's go and deal with it. It'll be an interesting experience for some of them."

Pearson will make changes to his starting lineup again, with the Hornets having only played on Tuesday, but it is unlikely that anyone who may be returning from injury will feature this evening, with the head coach not willing to risk those players on such a surface.

Nevertheless, the Watford boss is still aiming to put out a strong side.

"I would not risk players coming back from soft tissue injuries on a pitch like that, simple as that because it's just not a viable option," he said.

"We've got players who will be playing who featured for us this season and are on the bench on a regular basis and we need them to have pitch time. It's beneficial to them as individuals, it's beneficial to us as a football club, we've got some good players and it'll be a decent team playing."