Nyron Nosworthy has described the last few months as the toughest of his career and there is no chance the centre half will be taking his loan spell at Watford for granted.

Nosworthy was a fans’ favourite at Sunderland as the club were promoted to the Premier League, winning the North-East Football Writers’ player of the year award in 2007.

But the Brixton-born defender has found first team opportunities hard to come by under Steve Bruce and has not featured for the Black Cats since January 2010 - spending 18 months on loan at Sheffield United.

Nosworthy had not played a competitive first team game since April prior to Saturday’s win against Peterborough United and the 31-year-old has found it incredibly tough.

“It is something I have never experienced before as a player,” Nosworthy told the Watford Observer.

“I have been spoilt in terms of first team football and playing well so it was something that was hard to take at first but if I just disregarded it and gave up then I would not be doing myself any favours.

“I am not built like that; my character is a hard working lad and the best way to get results for myself and my career is to continue to work hard and obviously, with me working hard, it paid off on Saturday because, if I didn’t, maybe the performance would have been different.”

There were a few eyebrows raised when Nosworthy was signed on loan until January, the day before the Peterborough game, but it seems like a shrewd bit of business by Watford boss Sean Dyche, as the experienced defender achieved two accomplished performances in the last week.

Nosworthy described the next couple of months at Vicarage Road as “massive” for his future with the player’s contract up at the end of the season.

Nosworthy said: “This is the most important time in my career as everything has been smooth before. I had a contract behind me, I had time to make things right but it is different this time. The loan is massive for me.”

“I need to do what I am being paid to do, which is be professional and work my socks off,” Nosworthy continued, “it is pretty simple and I will leave the rest up to fate.”

Nosworthy started his career at Gillingham and made 199 outings before joining Sunderland on a free transfer in 2005, when the Gills were relegated.

The defender, who can also play right back, has made 378 appearances during his 13-year career and previously that alone would have secured him a loan move but Nosworthy reveals it is currently much tougher for players to find clubs.

He said: “It shows the market and the standard of football as teams do not feel they need to pick players from the Premier League with experience. They trust their squad and that is what they are going with. But luckily Watford have given me the chance to come and resurrect my career again, to try and get some games under my belt and show people what I am capable of.”

For someone who hasn’t played a competitive game for almost seven months, and who had never played with Adrian Mariappa before, Nosworthy slotted in to the Hornets’ back four with ease on Saturday.

It must be easy playing alongside Mariappa at present, considering his current form, and Nosworthy says Watford’s stand-in captain helped make his debut comfortable.

Nosworthy said: “I knew what I was getting from him. We just seemed to blend naturally and that was nice, he is a very good player. There is a lot of talk of him [in football] and I know what he is like – he is very quick, strong, determined and is a good captain as well.”