There is no frustration or disappointment shown by Adlene Guedioura when the Watford midfielder is asked about his lack of football this season. It’s not his style. Instead the Algerian smiles and gives a thoughtful response.

“I haven’t started a game yet but I am sure it will come soon,” he says. “I am not worried. The manager (Quique Sanchez Flores) is someone who wants to educate you. He wants you to understand his tactical plan.

“I now understand his plan well and I am sure he will give me a chance at the right time.

“I am really focused and when I do come into the team hopefully I will do well, the manager will be happy and I will stay in the side.”

Guedioura’s total playing time this season amounts to less than 30 minutes.

He has often been introduced from the substitutes’ bench in the final moments of games. His energy vital as Watford attempt to see out matches.

Admittedly it isn’t what he, or the Hornets fans, expected when the central midfielder joined the Golden Boys from Crystal Palace on the final day of the summer transfer window.

Guedioura starred for Watford during two separate loan spells last season and played a huge role in helping the club achieve Premier League promotion.

He returned a fans’ favourite and a player who many supporters wanted to see go straight back into the first team.

But Hornets boss Flores is meticulous. If he doesn’t feel a player is tactically or physically ready then he will not be placed in the Watford side.

“I want to play. Ask any player and they will tell you the same thing,” Guedioura says. “But sometimes you have to understand the situation.

“The team started well and I hadn’t done pre-season with the club. There was a new manager too which is important.

“But the season is long and I believe that I can come into the team and then stay there.”

He continues: “I am happy to be at Watford. Sometimes, even if you are at Barcelona, if you are told you’re not playing then you’re not completely happy.

“When you’re not in the team it’s important you are fully respected. That is what I feel here that I didn’t always feel at Palace. I am settled now. I don’t want to go anywhere else.”

When Guedioura walked back through the doors of Watford’s London Colney training ground in September for the first time since helping the club to promotion there were several introductions to make.

New players had arrived and there was a new man in charge of the Golden Boys side.

“It was easy to come back because the spirit at the club is so good,” he says. “If you come to the training ground you can see the atmosphere is really good.

“Everyone is always joking. We have the most nationalities of any Premier League squad but sometimes that is good. It makes sure we all speak to each other.”

And what has Guedioura made of Flores?

He replies: “I think he is someone who knows what he really wants.

"As a player he won the UEFA Cup and played for big clubs. As a manager he has worked at some very big teams.

“Tactically you can really learn from him. He doesn’t just improve your football instincts. He also improves your football intelligence too.”

It is glowing praise and given Watford’s form in the Premier League this season well deserved.

Under Flores’ guidance the Hornets sit tenth in the top flight and have produced a number of impressive performances.

But while the Golden Boys may have surprised the pundits and bookies this season Guedioura isn’t shocked in the slightest by their form. 

“Players like Troy (Deeney), Odion (Ighalo) Ighalo, Ikechi (Anya) and Heurelho (Gomes) are all shining,” Guedioura says.

“They have that quality and the Premier League may even suit them better than the Championship.

“Also in the Premier League you used to know who would be in the top four, who would qualify for Europe, who would struggle and who would go down.

“That is not the case anymore. Every team is competitive and every team has good players. For us every player can play in the starting XI. That can only improve us.”

Throughout our interview Guedioura is jovial and eloquent. He is a modest person who is very softly spoken.

But when he reveals his younger brother Nabil was trapped in the Stade de France during the Paris terror attacks last month his voice drops a little lower.

Guedioura was in Tanzania with the Algeria squad when he heard about the attacks which resulted in 130 people dying.

“It affects everyone when you have that kind of cruelty,” Guedioura says. “My little brother was in the Stade de France watching the game the night.

“He sent me a picture and I was worried that he was there because of how dangerous it was. I couldn’t sleep.

“But it is important to understand the situation. In France it is a bit of a mess after what happened. Of course people are scared of what has happened but you still have to live. We can all stay together against this cruelty.”