Watford Ladies have signed three goalkeepers in a day.

They completed their hat-trick within the last few minutes by announcing that Lucy Gillett has joined the club.

Her arrival comes just hours after the Golden Girls also announced they have signed QPR goalkeeper Sophie Cheadle and Republic of Ireland Under-19 shot stopper Caoimhe O'Reilly.

It means the club now has six keepers on their books, all battling for the number one jersey.

With English parents but having grown up in New York, Gillett has spent much of her career playing in the States, turning out for Springfield College and Hofstra University.

After finishing her collegiate career at Springfield, she moved to Iceland, where she won the Player of the Season award for Knattspyrnufélagið Fram, but she says the temptation to join Watford was too big to resist.

She said: “I just wanted to get away and have a little change in life. I do have family that live in England and both of my parents are English. It just seemed like the right decision to come over here and play.

“I got in contact with Watford and came over for some training. After I had met some of the girls and Katie [Rowson – manager], I realised that this is the club that felt right.”

But she knows she has a fight on her hands to play, with so much competition for the gloves.

She said: “Knowing that we’re all competing for the same starting spot, surprisingly everyone has been really extremely friendly and welcomed me in very nicely.

“We’ve added a really good goalkeeping coach who I’m excited to work with. It’s definitely nice to show up to practice and have such a friendly group of goalkeepers that are working for the same position but encouraging and motivating each other through every drill every step of the way.”

With just 24 hours to go before the Lady Hornets start their Women’s Super League 2 campaign at London Bees, the level of anticipation is going up a notch.

Gillett said: “I’m way beyond excited to get the season started on Wednesday. My goals are definitely not to allow any goals, that’s a big one.”

As well as the three goalkeepers, Watford Ladies have also tied up the signings of midfielders Georgia Miller, from West Ham, and Natalie Richardson, from QPR, and they are due to announce a sixth new arrival later today.