Watford captain Troy Deeney has said he can see the light at the end of the tunnel as he nears a return to first team football.

The skipper underwent knee surgery in mid-August, but is now back in the gym and running on a treadmill.

Ahead of the Hornets' return from an international break this weekend, Deeney spoke to the club website about the prospect of returning and said there will soon be no stopping him.

"I know when I'm aiming to be back, it's not too far away now," he said.

"I'm just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. They are holding me back for my benefit, but when they let me go there will be no stopping me, so they are just trying to rein me in until it's safe medically and then I'll be going and pushing myself.

“I'm just ready for it. I know what to expect and that I will have to fight for my place. I don’t think there’ll be any playing 45 minutes for the Under-23s first. I’ll be expected to go straight in and I'm ready for everything that is coming.”

Despite an end to his time out of the first team on the horizon, Deeney admits he is still a bit frustrated at not being able to push himself as much as he would like.

However, the skipper said he trusts the medical team and is willing to listen to their judgement as they try and get him back playing as soon as they can.

“I've been doing running in the pool, so the mechanics didn't feel too unusual,” he said. “I’m running at half body weight and I want to do more, but they are holding me back for the right reasons. It's exciting but I also get frustrated as I want to do more and do the next thing.

“I understand the process, though, and the medical staff are looking after me really well, so we've knocked another week off [of the recovery time]. I think they are a week or ten days away from letting me go and run properly outside.

“They took the last bit of fluid out of the knee. It was 100ml last time, which was quite a lot, but this time it was only 23ml. I also had something put in to help lubricate the knee. It feels great, it feels brand new. It's good. Things are going well.”