Ben Foster has spoken of his desire to get back to playing football again after signing a new two-year-deal with Watford.

The 37-year-old goalkeeper spoke to Talksport after committing his future to the Hornets and said that he was delighted to see the club putting their faith in him once again.

"It's nice, it's really nice," he said. "As a player, 37-year-old especially I know I've got to back myself, I know I feel good. I could probably go on and do another bit after this. Obviously, it's nice to have the backing of the club to place their trust in me to give me a two-year-deal.

"I won't lie I did enjoy the lockdown, having a good time, spending time with the family that I normally wouldn't get, I got to spend my birthday at home, took the bike out as much as I could to keep my fitness up, playing in the garden with kids, it was great. But you do also have that hunger to want to get going again and I think every footballer would agree.

"After a normal season you get six or seven weeks off and by the time that's finished, you're hankering to get back. It's been a bit weird, the season hasn't finished yet, but I think everyone's in the same boat, and we want to get back to it."

Foster claimed that Watford have been buoyed by the return of club captain Troy Deeney, who initially decided not to return to training, due to fears over the way the coronavirus affected members of the BAME community and concerns regarding the health of his child, who was born with respiratory conditions.

While the goalkeeper said he was pleased to see his skipper back and playing again, he also said he completely understood his situation and would have done the same thing.

"I think everyone of us fully backed Troy and every other footballer doing the same thing," said Foster.

"It's totally understandable with Troy, we knew his situation, his children have breathing difficulties and I think if I was in the same boat, I'd have done the same thing.

"It's nice to have him back in the building, he's the captain, he's the leader, he brings so much energy and the will to win and we're all feeding off it massively. We had a behind closed doors friendly yesterday made up of two Watford first XIs, 35 minutes each way. Troy played in that and he brings so much to the squad, from a football side, it's just nice to have him back in the building."

The game may have only been a friendly among teammates, but Foster said the strength of some of the tackles, aided by a poor refereeing performance by goalkeeping coach Graham Stack, suggested each player is out to prove their worth.

With a friendly at Vicarage Road lined up for this Saturday against a to-be-confirmed opponent, the veteran believes his team are in a strong position going into the restart.

"It was spicy, there were a few naughty challenges flying in," said Foster on the friendly game.

"Graham stack the goalie coach was referee and he was shocking, he was letting all sorts go, it was brutal.

"We've got nine or 10 days until the season starts and everyone wants to stake their claim and to show they're ready to go and start the season.

"It was a weird atmosphere, there was nobody in the stadium whatsoever, we tried all sorts, tried playing music, tried fake crowd noise to see what it was feeling like, it was very weird, but everyone's in the same boat at least.

"We've got another pre-season friendly this Saturday, although we're not sure who it's against yet, but it'll just be good to have 90 mins under the belt to get us best prepped as possible. Everyone's in good shape, body fats are low, the lads have done as much as they can. It's credit to the phsyios for sending out training plans to make sure everyone's fit and credit to the players for sending back info to show they are working hard as well."