Heurelho Gomes has spoken about his joy at seeing Watford return to the Premier League after they suffered relegation in his final season before retirement.

The Brazilian, who has just been named a club ambassador, said that he watched the Championship campaign from South America and feels the club deserves to be back in the top flight.

He also believes they are better-equipped to deal with the rigours of the Premier League than ever before.

“I was following the games, or I was watching the highlights of pretty much every game,” he told the club website.

“I received a text from Adam Masina after the promotion and he said: ‘That was for you’. I felt so bad when we got relegated because that wasn’t the way I wanted to finish my job there. To be honest, I feel so happy because the club is up again. The players and the people who work there deserve so much.

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"I believe we can do an even better job than before. It’s not easy, I always say the Premier League is not easy, but in these days the club is much more prepared for this big task.”

One of the main reasons for the club's success last season was their solid defence, which matched the Championship's record of only conceding 30 goals in a season.

Helping them achieve that landmark were goalkeepers Ben Foster and Daniel Bachmann, who shared 23 clean sheets during the campaign.

Gomes believes they are "top-class" and is especially pleased for Bachmann, who had to be patient in waiting for his chance.

“It’s amazing to see Watford has two top-class goalkeepers," he said. "These are two goalkeepers I used to work with. Ben was always very close to Dan and is still very close to him now. I know he’s the type of player who will be very happy to see you perform well. Ben Foster was playing week in, week out, then Danny came in and had a great season as well. When you see a player like Ben Foster supporting Dan like that, you see the club and the group are in the right direction.

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“It was so difficult for Dan because he was waiting for such a long time to have his opportunity, and he has taken it, he’s grabbed it with both hands."