Watford determined to fend off any transfer window interest in Troy Deeney

Newcastle have reportedly been keen to try to prise Deeney away from Vicarage Road, but Silva insists the hard-grafting forward remains central to his plans.

Asked if Newcastle had lodged a bid for Deeney, Silva said: "No, there are no offers to the club about Troy Deeney.

"At this moment Troy Deeney is able to play, finally, to stay in the squad if I take that decision.

"Of course the last 10 matches have not been easy for him, he's only been involved in three of them.

"But the only thing new about Troy Deeney is that he's able to return to the squad.

"He was here this morning, and I'm sure he'll be here tomorrow. All the club wants to keep him. All the players want to keep him.

"Troy is an important player for us."

Deeney has served a four-match suspension for his sending-off in Watford's 4-1 defeat to Huddersfield, and now Silva wants the 29-year-old back to top form as quickly as possible.

In-form Championship club Bristol City will pitch up at Vicarage Road in cup action for the second time this season on Saturday.

Lee Johnson's side toppled Watford 3-2 in the Carabao Cup in August, and have since progressed to the semi-finals courtesy of a stunning defeat of Manchester United.

Silva insists there will be no bad blood between the two teams in Saturday's Hertfordshire rematch however, after Bristol City assistant coach Jamie McAllister claimed there was a post-match scuffle in the Vicarage Road tunnel back in August.

McAllister has said Silva refused to shake hands with the Bristol City coaching staff after his side's Carabao Cup loss on August 22, but the Hornets' Portuguese boss has rejected that assertion.

"At the end of that match I spoke with (Bristol City manager) Lee Johnson, and everything is OK," said Silva.

"For me you need to have respect for the full 90 minutes, not just for a handshake at the end of the match. Nothing special happened, it was normal things in a normal game.

"I spoke with Lee at the end of the match, not with his assistants. We spoke at the end of the match in the tunnel.

"I don't know why his assistant came out but that's not important.

"It's not just about shaking hands at the end of the match, it's about the respect all the way through.

"What I will do (this weekend) I did in the end of that match. I don't need to do that in front of everyone just to show it."