Watford Under-23 defender Andi Janjeva played a vital role in maintaining a clean sheet in a 2-0 win against Newcastle United on Monday in the Premier League Cup.
The defender was kept busy following an early second-half dismissal for the Hornets, but was proud with the fight to maintain the result.
“It’s amazing, the boys are buzzing,” Janjeva said.
“To grind it out with 10 men and getting the red card so early on in the second made it very hard. But we all worked very hard for each other. We had to run the hard yards for each other and deserved the result in the end.
“It was really good, especially as a centre-half, a clean sheet is my priority. I don’t care about anything else so I’m very proud of the boys.”
The 18-year-old had been out for almost a year with a broken leg and explained how proud he was to be back playing.
“It’s been a long journey," he answered.
"All the rehab has meant it has been almost the year out. It was a long journey, but I have to say thank you to my family and the people at the club. They helped me out a lot through rehab and I’m very glad to be back."
Janjeva explained that coach Richard Shaw had implemented a game plan that worked perfectly for the tie against the Magpies, as Watford scored two goals in the opening half.
"As he said, we had to keep the ball and dominate possession [in the first half]," he answered.
"They were coming to our ground, so we had to make sure we put our foot down and showed them what we're about, and we did that. We got two early goals and held it out from there. I don't think they hardly had any chances [in the second half]; they didn't really test Vincent [Angelini]. It was a great performance."
