Christian Kabasele has spoken about his difficult time recovering from what he assumed was a "simple knock" that has ended up taking months to return from.

The defender bruised his knee during the home match against Coventry City back in November, but has been sidelined since he limped out of the 2-0 defeat at Huddersfield Town in December.

The defender said he had hoped to play through the pain initially, but eventually it reached a point where he was unable to do so.

Things are starting to look bright for the Belgian, who is expected to return sooner rather than later, after returning to individual training this week.

“Sometimes there’s a machine or something to help heal faster, but with this you just need to rest and wait until the pain is gone,” Kabasele told the club website. “There hasn’t been much to do other than to be patient. It’s harder mentally because you want to be involved as a football player all the time but I’m on my way back.

Picture: PA

Picture: PA

“It’s very frustrating because it started from a simple knock against Coventry. After, I wanted to play to help the team because we had a lot of games, so I tried to play through the pain. At some point my body said stop and it’s taken longer to recover than for a simple knock.”

The defender is excited about a possible return, with the season nearing its climax and Watford still very much in the hunt for an automatic promotion place.

He hopes he can play his part in the all-important final few games.

“It’s exciting, we’re in a very good position now,” he said. “Before this we weren’t in the first two positions but now we are there and we need to do everything we can to stay there. The pressure will increase for sure. We’ll have some big games in April so we will need everybody for this time and hopefully I’ll be able to help the team as well.”