Kiko Femenia is hoping his experience can help his Watford teammates in their pursuit of promotion back to the Premier League.

The Spanish full-back has been one of the Hornets' better players so far this season, pitching in both in attack and defence and helping them climb up to second place in the Championship.

Promotion is something he achieved with Alaves in 2016 when they earned promotion to La Liga in Spain and he told the Watford website that team spirit and focus were two of the most important factors in that success.

“The key was the spirit in the changing room and also the fact we were not obsessed with the idea of going up,” he said.

“We just did our job, focusing on getting the points three by three. We just need to stay focused, work day by day and the results will reflect the hard work we put in on the training pitch.

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“It's not enough just to have a good squad. We've got to manage the squad and be focused on the target.”

The disappointment of relegation was difficult to overcome initially, but Femenia believes the team is strong enough to earn the promotion he thinks they deserve.

“I was really sad about it,” said Femenía. “Nobody likes to get relegated. I don't understand why we didn't get the results as we had a good squad.

“I was really sad for the fans, the club and my teammates but hopefully it will only be for a short period of time and we are going to go back to the Premier League soon.”

While Femenia has been an influential member of the squad this season, he almost was not a part of it at all, with teams in Russia and Spain both interested in signing him during the transfer window.

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However, the 29-year-old said he was happy to stay at Vicarage Road and is proud of his record with Watford.

“I had a contract here and my head was always calm and focused here with Watford,” he said. “I'm proud of it (my appearances here). I'm really, really happy here with my wife and my family.

“Hopefully we can play many more games together and hopefully in the Premier League. We want to fight and go up as soon as possible, so we need to focus on this season.”