Watford FC to play against Basingstoke Town this Saturday

The club announced in a statement on their official website that "there’s been a slight shift in our publicised schedule towards the end of this week!"

This change being the fact that Basingstoke Town FC will host an XI from Watford FC at 3pm on Saturday, July 22.

The Dragons "look forward to welcoming a Hornet’s squad which we anticipate will be mainly built from their U21’s squad."

READ MORE: Three more Bison players move on

The fixture against the EFL side was arranged as a celebration of Ezio Touray’s move to the Championship club during the 2022/23 campaign.

Ezio has since moved on from Watford and is currently trialing with another professional side.

The change in schedule, which means 'Stoke will take on the former Premier League club, came as a surprise to many, as the club had already arranged a fixture against Ascot United FC on the same day.

The club said: "There was original hope that we would be able to fulfil both fixtures by producing two squads in our continued bid to build fitness levels.'Stoke will take on Watford this Saturday (Image: Steve Gridley)

"Sadly, that will no longer be possible. We’ve sent our apologies to Ascot for the late postponement, we’re hopeful they’ll find a replacement side for the game."

'Stoke fans may be able to get a glimpse of new boy defender Kai Hobbs, who joined the club this week from Binfield FC.

Manager Dan Brownlie had big praise for the 19-year-old.

In a statement on the club's website, he said: "Kai has been on our radar since the early stages of last season.

"He impressed every time we came up against him. There’s not many that keep our wingers quiet – but Kai managed to last season.

"He’s tenacious, great on the ball and has a speed that is an asset in both defence and attack."

The match will take place at the Winklebury Sports Complex, tickets for the game will cost £6 for adults, £4 for concessions, £2 for under 18s and £1 for under 12s.