Bachmann: “We’ll Have To Be Patient”

The Hornets will have to earn the right to play at the Riverside Stadium on Monday before stamping their authority on the game, says Daniel Bachmann.

Xisco Muñoz's side have the second-best passing accuracy in the league, completing 84 per cent of their passes which is just one per cent behind Queens Park Rangers, but the Austrian 'keeper knows the boys in front of him will have to roll up their sleeves against a Middlesbrough side set up astutely under the wily Neil Warnock.

“It will be a tough game,” said Bachmann. “It was quite close in the first game of the season and we scored from a set-piece, which just shows the little details make the difference. It will be a difficult game again and you know what to expect from a Neil Warnock team: how they will set up.

“It will be tough and we'll have to be patient, move the ball and be focused on limiting their chances and set-pieces. But if we do the dirty work, stick together, then our quality should shine through. We are going there to try and get the three points.”

The Golden Boys have been pretty good at that on the road of late. They have won four of their last five away from Vicarage Road, which is as many as they had in their previous 27 on the road.

“It's been a big change in last three or four months,” said Bachmann. “We feel good as a team, we've got a good spirit and we support each other. We know we have the quality, but now we have the fighting spirit and we are playing as a team.”

The Championship table makes pretty reading right now. On the back of 10 wins in 11 matches, the Hornets are in second spot having established a nine-point gap over the third and fourth-place teams, although they have played a game more. However, Bachmann knows the job is nowhere near done and that the team are keen to turn the screw and keep churning out the victories.

“We are just looking at this game and this game only and getting the three points,” he said. “That's all we can do. We can't get over-excited as this is a tough league. We'll look game by game and look to get as many points as possible.”