"No pressure on Daniel Bachmann" - Gino Pozzo sent clear Watford FC transfer demand ahead of January | OneFootball

FLW fan pundit Justin Beattie made it very clear that the Watford hierarchy must find competition for goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann in the winter window.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

After an impressive start to the Championship season that sees Watford sit in the play-off positions we spoke to our Hornets fan pundit Justin Beattie about what one transfer related demand he would have for owner Gino Pozzo, when the January transfer window rolls around.

Admittedly, this is a difficult question to answer when your team is fresh off the back of a 6-2 thumping of Sheffield Wednesday, but pundit Justin Beattie had one simple answer for us - competition must be brought in to push current captain Daniel Bachmann in goal.

This was proven on Tuesday evening as Watford fell to a disappointing 1-0 away defeat to Swansea City.

Bachmann was able to make two saves during the game, but was felled by a 35th minute strike from Myles Peart-Harris at the back post after some nice build up play.

Daniel Bachmann in dire need of competition

While speaking to FLW, our pundit commented: "If I had to send a transfer related to demand to the club's owner for January, it would be to bring in a proper goalkeeper to put pressure on Daniel Bachmann as first-choice.

"Jonathan Bond was always brought in as a second-choice goalkeeper, so there is no pressure on Daniel Bachmann whatsoever.

"If he gets injured, Bond comes in. As soon as he is fit again, Bond is out of the team. He really does need someone to push him."

This much is certainly true, as Bachmann was sidelined earlier in the season with a thigh injury which caused him to be out for nearly a month. Sure enough, as soon as Bachmann was fit again, Jonathan Bond was benched by manager Tom Cleverley.

However, this is no real surprise, as Bond had conceded two goals per game on average during his four-game stint in the Watford net, which is hardly an impressive statistic that ought to have kept his place.

Bachmann might not have the required quality

A short comparison between Bachmann and some of the other top six goalkeepers gives quite a bleak picture of the Watford shot-stopper's abilities, and backs up our pundit's view that he needs competition in order to shore up the Hornets defensively.

Below is a table of some statistics from this season between Bachmann, Sheffield United goalkeeper Michael Cooper and Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson.

The stats provided are purely a measure of the goalkeeper's shot-stopping capabilities and their competency when it comes to keeping the ball out of the net.

Evidently, Daniel Bachmann does not live up to the quality of the other two goalkeepers. His number of goals conceded, as well as number of goals prevented, are noticeably lower figures than those of his top six rivals.

Michael Cooper's calibre this season has been a cut above the rest, as he has already managed eight clean sheets in just 12 appearances. When fans are aware of the standard of player their rivals possess in goal, it adds fuel to the fire.

As our pundit suggested, Bachmann needs to be pushed in order to live up to the standard of rival teams' shot-stoppers.

By raising the stakes, Hornets fans will hope that Vicarage Road can become more of a fortress and they can continue their push towards securing a play-off spot as a minimum come the end of the season.