Stoke City assistant manager Dean Holden has told the club's official website that the club will be looking to rotate their squad for tonight's Carabao Cup clash against Watford. 

The Potters travel to Vicarage Road this evening after making a good start to their Sky Bet Championship season and will be hoping to progress into the next round of the competition against the Hornets.

Michael O'Neill and his staff rang the changes in the previous rounds against the likes of Fleetwood Town and Doncaster Rovers respectively and it now appears that the club will be taking the same approach once again.

Speaking ahead of the game, Holden was quick to confirm that his side intend to rotate for the match against the top flight side:

"I think you've seen in previous rounds of this competition, we've used the squad to good effect. 

"Players have been able to get minutes in the back and also stake a claim for the team.

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"I think you've seen players who have played in this competition that have then stayed in the team on the back of it. For us it's a competition that we value and we will treat with respect of course.

"We'll put a team out that we believe will go to Watford and put in a positive performance and hopefully, get a good result and get us in the next round."

The Potters will now be looking to bounce back from their surprise 2-1 defeat away at Derby County on the weekend and will be hoping that some of their fringe players can step up to the plate.

Meanwhile the club also having an upcoming league games against Hull City to contend with on Saturday.

The Verdict 

It is very rare to see many Premier League sides let alone Championship clubs taking the Carabao Cup seriously and it appears that the Potters don't view it as much of a priority.

Both sides will inevitably makes changes to their team for this game and it will certainly be interesting to see which one prevails on the night.

Stoke clearly fancy their chances to make a real promotion push this term after a great start and therefore it is important that they do use their squad to great effect.

Some players now have the opportunity to really stake a claim for a starting spot over the coming weeks by performing well this evening.