Goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann concedes that the Watford players haven’t worked hard enough, and former head coach Rob Edwards has paid the price.

The Austrian international has played in all 11 of the Hornets’ league games this season, making saves that have often preserved victories or earned a point.

However, with Edwards now gone and replaced by Slaven Bilic, Bachmann says the new head coach has every right to expect far more from his players – and yesterday’s 4-0 victory at Stoke was an early indication of that.

“It has to be different in terms of the work rate and the intensity, as that wasn’t there and it all fell on Rob’s head, and he has had to leave,” he said.

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“Us players were out on the pitch though, and we didn’t run and fight, and didn’t work hard enough.

“We have got a lot of quality in this squad. But that doesn’t matter or count if we don’t run, and fight, and put in the work.

“If you don’t match the hunger and desire of the team you’re playing against, or you have poorer running stats or whatever, then the quality you might have won’t make any difference. It doesn’t matter who you are and what qualities you think you might have, you’re just going to get out-run and out-worked. You get bullied on the pitch, and that’s what needs to change.

“We know we have enough quality in this squad to get promoted and be successful in this league, but without the fight and the desire, quality won’t help us at all.”

Bachmann says that while changing head coach so early in a season may appear to be pressing the panic button, he feels the season has barely started and there is no need to be worried about where the Hornets currently are.

Watford climbed to seventh on the back of yesterday’s victory, but that isn’t of much significance to Bachmann right now.

“I’m not even looking at the league table,” he said. “There’s not much point in looking at the table now. I think the first time you can start looking at the table is when we break for the World Cup. Then you can take a step back and see where you are.

“When we were in the Championship last time, it think we were 9 or 10 points behind Brentford in January and we went past them and got automatic promotion. Now I know Watford fans will look at where we are, but at this stage it really doesn’t matter.

“Teams who are down at the bottom end of the league now could still go up. It really doesn’t matter at this stage.

“What does matter is that we start rebuilding the confidence and the winning mentality. Last season was really tough in that respect, and so we have to start getting that mindset which means you can win every week.

“We have to be prepared to run hard for 95 minutes, and if after 60 minutes you can’t run anymore then we have the players to change things.

“We’ve had 11 games, the season has barely started and the important thing right now is not where we are in the table but what our mentality is and how hard we’re prepared to work.”

The former Stoke keeper says he feels that while other teams nearer the top of the table are playing at their peak, the Hornets can take comfort from the fact they have several more gears to slip through.

“I think Sheffield United and Norwich are probably at their highest level now, the best they can be. We’ve barely even got to 50% of our capabilities. We’ve got nowhere near what we can be and what we should be, and yet we’re seven or eight points behind them. That’s how we should look at it.

“We know, as players, we have not performed well in the league games we’ve played this season. We just haven’t, you can’t hide from it.

“We know we can get a lot, lot better and yet I believe teams above and around us are at their best. There is no need to be feeling anything even close to panic. The season has just started, we’ve not made the best start but we’ve only lost two league games out of ten. It’s not been good at all, but it’s not the end of the world either.”

As one of the longest serving players in the squad, Bachmann has seen many head coaches come and go at Vicarage Road.

“It’s one of those things that happens in football,” he admitted.

“People in football know it’s part of the job, and at Watford we know how the owner operates. We know the business model and it’s been like this since they’ve been here. They’ve stuck by what they do. The owner likes to change and likes the bit of a buzz that change brings with it.

“As players, things don’t really change for us. We’re professionals and we work with whoever the head coach is.”

Did Bachmann see the change coming?

“I’d not really thought about it to be totally honest,” he said.

“It had been a difficult time for Rob. There was lot going on away from the pitch during the transfer window and we had players that were injured, so it certainly wasn’t easy for him.

“But the problem with football is it’s a game about results, and it’s results that count the most. When you look at our results they haven’t been what they should have been.

“Regardless of what’s happening in the background and injuries and everything else, people look at results and don’t really care about anything else. They haven’t been great and our performances also haven’t been what they should be. As players, we need to look at what we did on the pitch.”

The low point in the first 10 league games was the woeful performance and defeat at Blackburn, after which Bachmann went to try and speak to some of the angriest fans in the away end.

“These people have supported the football club for years, they were angry and the performance at Blackburn was simply not good enough. We knew that, especially in the first half.

“Football fans voice their frustrations and we accept that as players. They spend a lot of money travelling to follow us all over the country, and Blackburn is a long, long way from Watford. Going all the way up there on a Tuesday night and then we perform like we did – we understand that is the reaction we’re going to get.

“It was understandable the reaction that night. I think there’s also still a lot of frustration from last season. As players, we have to try and reconnect with the supporters after such a bad season. We have a relationship to rebuild, and I said that to you in the summer.

“We have to be winning our home games as a start point, and that hasn’t happened enough. Vicarage Road has to be a fortress this season, and it hasn’t been - we have to change that, starting on Wednesday.

“We, as players, have to build that trust again with the fans. We need to perform in a way that they can have confidence in us. As players, that should be a given anyway, but we have to show them that we’re ready to work our arses off for 95 minutes every game. That’s what they want, and it’s what we expect from each other as players.”

What has new head coach Bilic shown in the few days he’s had with the Watford players?

“He’s got incredible experience at every level in football,” said Bachmann.

“He’s been to European Championships as a manager and a player, he’s played at World Cups, he’s managed in the Premier League and he’s been promoted out of the Championship.

“There’s nothing he’s not seen in his career, and you can tell that. It’s always the case that when a new manager arrives you get a bit of extra spring in your step. Never mind what club you’re at or why it happens, a new manager always gives you that bit of bounce.

“It’s strange, because you expect the performance in training to be at the highest level every single day. That is what you expect and what it should be. But for some reason, not just at Watford but anywhere, when a new manager joins instead of putting in 100% you can see people putting in 105%.

“And that’s been the case in the last few days. We have worked on tactical stuff too. We can see how he can help us, that’s for sure. Certainly, going forward, he’ll be able to look after us. For now, we still have six points to play for this week and that’s what counts.”