He waited three-and-a-half years to make his league debut for Watford but it couldn’t have gone much better for Daniel Bachmann, whose clean sheet contributed to a 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town.
The Hornets restricted the Terriers to just four shots but Bachmann – in for the injured Ben Foster – was an assured and vocal presence in Watford’s goal and was alert to deny the visitors’ only attempt on target, a well-struck Scott High shot late in the game.
“To start with a clean sheet is always nice,” said Bachmann, speaking to Hive Live just moments after full-time.
“I didn’t have a great deal to do but the job of a goalkeeper is to deal with whatever comes your way and I’ve done that today.
“The boys have been very good, we were solid at the back, we created some good chances and scored two goals.
“Credit to Clevs for not giving up on the ball and poking it in [for the first goal]. I was just joking with him because he looked so fast from behind!”
Having played understudy to Foster since returning from a loan spell with Kilmarnock in the summer of 2019, Bachmann has been working hard behind the scenes to ensure he’d be ready for when this opportunity came.
“It couldn’t have been a better start, with a clean sheet and three points,” said the Austrian.
“It’s been a long time coming. It’s been a frustrating last 18 months but you’ve got to keep your head down and work hard every day.
“I work every day in training like I’m playing at the weekend, I got my chance today and we’ll see what happens in the future.”
Barnsley come to Vicarage Road on Tuesday and despite not featuring at Oakwell in October, Bachmann says the Golden Boys are keen to reverse the 1-0 defeat suffered in South Yorkshire.
“We have another home game on Tuesday which we’ll be expected to win,” said the 26-year-old.
“We need to try and put right what we didn’t do at Barnsley [earlier in the season]. We’ve got to win this game, that’s the standard we set ourselves.
“We’ll recover now and try and win again in three days.”
