The first change of the afternoon and it's Slaven Bilic who is tweaking his Watford side.

Yaser Asprilla departs in place of Imran Louza.

Watford's threat is very much still alive as they are quick to pounce on some loose possession from the hosts in midfield.

Stoke might be leaving themselves vulnerable as they chase an equaliser.

And just like that Watford have a half chance at the other end. Stoke need to be careful here.

Ken Sema breaks down the left and his cross picks out Ismaila Sarr, but Sarr doesn't quite connect with his header and Stoke are able to get the ball out of the way.

All the traffic is going into the Watford penalty box at the moment, which will please Alex Neil even if Stoke haven't managed to breakthrough with a goal yet.

Will Smallbone's shot goes high over the bar this time.

Liam Delap becomes the third Stoke player to be given a caution.

The home side have their tails up now and are trying to increase the pressure on Watford.

They win a corner and this time it's Will Smallbone who swings a kick towards goal but Hamza Choudhury and Daniel Bachmann clear their lines.

Stoke finally test Daniel Bachmann in goal with a shot on target.

Lewis Baker's free-kick comes in from distance, but Bachmann has his eyes on it and makes a diving save to palm the ball clear.

That's definitely livened up the Stoke crowd.

Yaser Asprilla is not happy as he gets shown a yellow card right in front of the referee.

Goalscorer Ismaila Sarr wins a free-kick almost immediately from the restart and it turns into a bit of a let-off for Stoke, as Watford arguably should have had another goal.

Mario Gaspar whips the ball into the box and finds Francisco Sierralta who has a free header, but he directs it over the bar.

The teams are back out and we are up and running again for the second half at the bet365 Stadium.

Some work for Stoke to do if they want to get back into this match, as they are yet to record a shot on target.

Today's match is the last of this weekend's run of Championship fixtures, so let's recap where we stand in the league now.

Sheffield United saw their lead at the top of the table cut to only a point after Troy Deeney's late strike meant they were held 1-1 by Birmingham. Norwich beat Blackpool to keep up the chase behind them in second.

Interim Cardiff manager Mark Hudson saw his side earn a respectable 1-1 draw with Burnley, but Huddersfield's new boss, Mark Fotheringham, oversaw a 3-1 defeat to Reading in his first match in charge. Rotherham, who also lost manager Paul Warne in the last 10 days, were beaten at home to Wigan.

Bottom of the table Coventry won 1-0 against fellow strugglers Middlesbrough, while there were wins on the road for QPR against Bristol City and Swansea at West Brom.

So far so good for Slaven Bilic as his Watford are in front at the break thanks to Ismaila Sarr's 12th minute goal.

Watford are looking for their first clean sheet in 11 matches and first win on the road in nine, a run that stretches back to March and last season.

They are almost halfway to both as it stands.

One final chance for Stoke before half-time as Liam Delap sees a shot go just wide of the post.

It comes from a long throw-in and bounces round the box before falling to Delap, who can't get his effort on target.

Aden Flint makes a diving challenge and wins the ball off Keinan Davis but the Watford man isn't happy. The two square up to each other, forcing the referee to intervene.

Stoke are a bit sloppy in possession in midfield and give the ball away. No one has really been able to take a hold of the game during this half, but Watford have the all important goal.

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The best chance of the afternoon so far for Stoke as Liam Delap breaks down the left into the box.

He does well to hold off the Watford defence and run towards the goal line, crosses the ball back over the face of the goal in the direction of Dwight Gayle but it goes up and over the net instead.

Dwight Gayle wins Stoke a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area in a dangerous position.

It takes a while as the referee deals with some shoving in the box, but the delivery isn't great and the ball doesn't get beyond Keinan Davis when it does come in.

It's all gone a bit flat with 10 minutes to go to half-time. Stoke need something to lift this crowd.

We've got a brief pause as Will Smallborne has gone down in a challenge and is receiving a bit of treatment on the pitch.

That's a strange one. Watford keeper Daniel Bachmann is shown a yellow card for time wasting.

We're only half an hour into the match!

Stoke are getting in the Watford box enough yet don't have that finishing touch needed to see the ball go into the net.

They win their third corner but Watford are there to clear the danger comfortably.

Plenty for Potters boss Alex Neil to ponder.

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