It was important Watford made a winning start to the season, but it was the manner in which QPR were dispatched 4-0 before half-time last Saturday that offered particular encouragement for the campaign ahead.

The hard work which had been put in during the seven previous weeks of pre-season at London Colney was clearly evident as the Hornets performed with the intensity Valerien Ismael demands from the opening whistle.

The result brought a much-needed collective smile back to Vicarage Road – and that sense of happiness is shared by the man who started his season by keeping a clean sheet.

Daniel Bachmann was one of the five-strong panel at last night’s At Our Place fans’ event at the training ground and the goalkeeper gave an insight into why he is finding it “a joy to come to work every day” as part of a squad that he believes is now "a team" due to the change of mentality instilled by the new head coach.

The 29-year-old was “proud” to be made club captain by Ismael and explained: “I’m trying to keep the group together, obviously I’m in close contact with the manager as well with little day-to-day things which are really important and make a massive difference to the squad.

“You can never have 25 incredibly happy players, that will never happen, but with the group at the moment it’s just a joy to come to work every day.

“If you look at the squad on paper you think we’re weaker than last year, but from the inside as a player I think we’re a lot stronger because we’re a team now.”

Asked about why there was a greater togetherness in the squad, Bachmann said: “Obviously a lot is down to the manager, but it’s got multiple factors why we’re a team now. One of the reasons is big names leaving, that certainly helps in that sense.

“Everyone knows how important we are, every single player on the pitch knows exactly what to do. I said before the game on Saturday it’s such a nice feeling going into the game knowing what to do, starting from me to every single other position in the squad which makes a massive difference.

“Whether we win or lose the game, we all know want we’re going to do, we know what’s going to happen and we know what we can expect of ourselves, what the fans can expect of us.

“It’s been like this throughout the whole pre-season. It’s been tough training sessions, long days and a lot of detailed work which we obviously needed and I think you could see that within 30 seconds because the first goal we scored on Saturday was what we worked on in training, that exact pattern of play.”

Bachmann believes the decision to spend all of pre-season at London Colney helped build that togetherness within the squad.

He said: “It was the first time in my career I’ve not been away in pre-season which was surprisingly good. In between sessions, the lads are playing pool, table tennis and it brought the group together a lot more than I would have thought.”

Outlining his methods, Ismael explained: “The main thing is the players understand the message. The message is we attack all together and we defend all together. Everyone has a job, even the keeper, out of possession, in possession, and we work all together.

“Even with my methods or my staff, without the players you cannot reach something. The players have brought in and believe in what we are doing and I am just pleased you can win straight away because every win you can get now you will cement that belief within the squad.

“It’s a long journey. We enjoy the first game but the next one will be more difficult. The opponent is more aware about us so we have to do more and every time I need to see now how the team react. Are we able to play with that consistency, with that intensity week in, week out?

“We start the game to win the game, it’s clear, but we want to see the player do the job and this is the most important thing for me, to see that energy on the pitch that everyone tries to do the right thing to get the three points.

“At the end you never know because it’s football, you cannot decide everything, but if you do the right thing all the time then sooner or later you will start to win with consistency.”