Daniel Bachmann is eagerly awaiting the day when his family can come to Vicarage Road to see him perform in a Watford shirt after months of frustration, as he watched on from the sidelines as second choice.

The Austrian goalkeeper admits he had different ideas to his head coaches last season about his place within the Watford squad following his return from a loan spell at Kilmarnock, but is now enjoying life with the Hornets, as an injury to Ben Foster has given him the opportunity to impress during the last nine matches in all competitions.

In that time, Bachmann has kept six clean sheets and he is now hoping fans can return to stadiums before long, so that he can welcome his parents and his children into the Vic to watch him play.

“It gives me goosebumps just thinking about my son being at the stadium,” said Bachmann, whose family have also been prevented from watching games in stadiums by the coronavirus pandemic. “Obviously, he was too young when I was in Scotland, so he’s not really seen me play live so that’ll be very nice. I’m really looking forward to that.

“He came to one game [in Scotland] but obviously he was very young, just a baby then, so I don’t think he’ll remember that. But I’m really looking forward to having my family in the stadium as well as my parents who are obviously in Austria and I’ve seen them once for two days in the last 18 months. That’s pretty tough but everybody’s in the same boat.”

Bachmann has had to be patient in recent months, with Foster’s experience and unfaltering form keeping him top of the goalkeeping pecking order and on reflection , he thinks that perhaps he should have taken an opportunity to go on loan at the beginning of last season.

Yet, he is now exactly where he wants to be at the club where he claims he sees his long-term future.

“Last season in the Premier League was really frustrating because I had a good season in Scotland and I had a lot of options to go on loan too, and it didn’t happen. So that was really frustrating from a personal point of view,” he said.

“I see my future at Watford but obviously, at points, it comes to the back of your head where you think, ‘I need to go on loan, I need to go and play somewhere’ but it didn’t happen in the summer, and I just stuck with it and I worked hard in training and waited for the opportunity.

“As a player you always think you should be playing. At times I really didn’t understand some of the decisions that were made. But that’s football.

Picture: PA

Picture: PA

“That’s what I’ve been waiting for for the last 18 months and I’m glad it’s finally come. I’m happy with how I’m playing.”

Regarding his own performances, Bachmann believes that he owes a lot to the defenders in front of him, who have helped shut out the majority of opponents he has faced.

However, the game time is helping him grow in confidence.

“Ultimately, as a goalkeeper, you get judged on not conceding goals so obviously, it looks good from the outside, it looks pretty impressive,” he said.

“A lot is down to the whole team performance, not to me personally, I can only deal with what comes my way. One game, it’s more one game, it’s less, but that’s my job, I can’t go looking for things, or making things happen. You have to deal with what comes your way. And that’s what I’m doing.

“I feel really confident with a ball at my feet. Balls into the box, obviously, we get quite a lot and we defend them really well and like I said, when I have to make a save, I’ve made them. That’s all I can do. And that’s what I’ll continue to do.”