It would be easy to dub defender Francisco Sierralta the forgotten man, given he didn’t play a minute of first-team football after the FA Cup defeat at Leicester in January.

Having ended the promotion season as a regular in defence, Sierralta clocked up 29 starts and scored his first goal for the club in the 4-1 win at Rotherham as the Hornets secured their return to the Premier League.

That helped him force his way back into the Chile team, and he played for his country as they lost 1-0 to Brazil in the Copa America Final in July 2021.

Although he didn’t start the first couple of games, Sierralta was in the team for Premier League games at Spurs and home to Wolves. His next Premier League appearance came at Leeds, a defeat which ultimately cost Xisco Munoz his job.

The defender returned to the side under Claudio Ranieri though, for the home games with Spurs and West Ham, before the FA Cup tie at Leicester.

And that was it. By the end of the month Ranieri had been shown the door, Roy Hodgson arrived and unless you paid close attention to the subs warming up, you wouldn’t have seen Sierralta as he was an unused sub just six times during the former England manager’s reign.

“It wasn’t easy as I was playing, then I got two injuries in quick succession and then, after I that, I didn’t see the pitch again,” he said. “I love being out on the pitch, I love playing in games, so it was a difficult situation.

“I don’t think losing my place in the team was connected directly to Xisco losing his job, because when Ranieri was in charge I still played a couple of times.

“But then we had another change of manager and I didn’t play any more. I think it was a technical decision on his part because he wanted to play more experienced players. All I know for sure is that I didn’t play again.”

Did he seek answers from Hodgson during that barren four-month spell?

“I didn’t go directly and ask as I’m not the sort of player that goes straight to the manager,” said Sierralta. “I think maybe he could see that I was not happy in training, maybe he could see from my body language.

“But no, I didn’t think the game at Leicester would be my last time on the pitch.

“When we were in the Championship I wasn’t in the team at the start but then the manager gave me my chance and I played after that. I thought I played well and I kept my place.

“I’m just a player who is happiest when he’s playing. When last season ended I looked at the appearances table and the minutes played, and I felt I didn’t play enough.”

Not being in the Watford team also meant he fell out of favour for Chile, not being selected in the squad for any of four World Cup qualifiers in January, February and March. However, he played in friendlies against Tunisia and Ghana last month.

“Yes of course the situation at Watford affected things with the national team,” he said.

“I was in the squad regularly then I stopped playing for Watford for a couple of months and the manager of the Chile national team stopped calling me.

“I did get back into the national team more recently because there was a change of manager, but any player who wants to play international football has to be playing for his club. It’s not enough just to be in the squad.”

However, it’s a fresh start for everyone at Vicarage Road with a new head coach in Rob Edwards, and a general push towards trying to build a team with younger players.

“I’m very happy. We have a young manager who has different ideas and has given very positive vibes to the team. So far, it’s been very good,” said the Chilean.

“I’ve spoken to the new manager. As I say, I’m not the sort of player that goes to the manager’s office but we have had conversations on the training pitch.”

It’s fair to say that once he got into the team in the 20/21 season, Sierralta was one of the stand-out performers – and he’s looking forward to re-establishing himself.

“I like the Championship because it’s a league where you are playing games back to back and it’s pretty non-stop,” he said.

“It’s a league that I know and I think I did well last time we were there. What I have to do now is fight for my place in the team and then hopefully go well from there.”

As a big defender who is strong in the air, the Championship poses just the sort of challenge that Sierralta enjoys.

“Yeah the Championship is a really physical league and I like that,” he said.

“You can use your body strength, the referees give less fouls and that means there are fewer interruptions in the play.”

He’s also encouraged by Edwards’ desire to employ a back three.

“I do like playing in a back three,” said Sierralta. “I’ve done it with the Chile national team and it’s a shape I feel comfortable with.”

The defender was in the crowd for one of the Elton John concerts and smiled as he said “we all realise what a big fan of Watford he is”.

The music legend possesses a very impressive head of hair these days, though he’s not quite perfected the ‘man bun’ that Sierralta sports!

“That took about eight or nine months to grow!” he said. “Maybe in the future I’ll get it cut but for now I really like it like that.”