He may have only played for the club seven times but make no mistake about it, Rene Gilmartin loves Watford.

The charismatic Irishman spent two years at Vicarage Road between 2010 and 2012 and returned for a second spell last summer.

Gilmartin has not featured for the Golden Boys this season but is always part of the first team squad as third choice goalkeeper and was as delighted as anyone else about promotion to the Premier League, even though he has yet to find out whether he will still be at the club when they are in the top flight, with his contract set to expire.

Gilmartin, who is 28 at the end of this month, is one of the best interviews around and spoke passionately about what promotion is going to mean for the club and the town as a whole.

He said: "Watford is a huge club and it is growing. You look at how important promotion is to the community and how much promotion will grow business and the town.

"From a football point of view, it is going to bring the best teams in the country and some of the best teams in Europe to Vicarage Road."

He continued: "I am not talking too much about next season because it is not right to at the moment because I do not have a contract yet - and we need to talk about that - but I’m delighted for the club and the team. The prospect of what is to come next season is huge."

Gilmartin, who is from Malahide in Dublin, moved to England in 2005 to join Walsall and remained there for five years.

He spent most of his time as understudy to Clayton Ince but finally dislodged the Trinidad and Tobago international during his final season at the League One club.

Gilmartin turned down a contract at Walsall to join Watford in 2010 and after spells at Plymouth Argyle in the 2012/13 campaign and St Patrick's back in Ireland last season, he returned to Vicarage Road in the summer.

He said: "It has been great getting back to a club that I genuinely love. It is difficult not playing but that is only one day of the week and the other six days I love my job.

"If I am not playing games then I am striving to get on the pitch, that is the way I am and I have a desire to play. But Heurelho (Gomes) has had a great season and fair play to him. I have still really enjoyed the season."

Gilmartin, who has regularly appeared as a summariser for the club's in-house commentary channel, added: "I try to be the best I can be, the most positive person I can be, and if I’m not playing then I don’t sulk because it is not the right thing to do. If I can be a good personality in the dressing room then I will try to bring everyone together."