Head coach Walter Mazzarri insists he does not want the club to sell Odion Ighalo in next month’s transfer window despite the Watford striker losing his place in the side.

The Nigerian international has struggled for form this season scoring just once in the Premier League and has not started since the 6-1 drubbing at Anfield last month.

Mazzarri is adamant Ighalo, who has been the subject of offers from China over the last year, still has a significant role to play at Vicarage Road and believes the club need up to six forwards to compete across league and cup competitions.

The Italian said: “No I wouldn’t be happy seeing Ighalo go. Of course I always speak about what I know and speak about what I’ve seen this season. He’s a player I like and trust very much. When he was in good condition at the beginning of the year he started the games.

“Of course he’s a player that we need and he’s in competition at the same level with all the other strikers which can be Troy Deeney, Stefano Okaka, Isaac Success and even Jerome Sinclair.”

He added: “Also if we want to grow as a club and in the future enter further competitions we can even calculate Nordin Amrabat as a striker which would give us six.

“Every club that wants to play in more than one competition a year needs to have at least six important strikers and Ighalo is one of them.”

Captain Deeney has failed to score in his last six games, as he waits for his 100th goal for the club, but Mazzarri has no doubt he will find the net again soon.

The Watford boss said: “If you look at the game against Leicester, Deeney didn’t manage to score but he played a great game.

“The important thing at the end of the day is we win and Deeney helps this happen. If we don’t think too much about it then the goal will come.”