Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has restated his hope with the new club Watford FC after suffering defeat in his second non-competitive match with the Hornets.
Watford suffered a 2-0 friendly defeat to Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday at London Colney with Kieran Lee and Oladapo Afolayan grabbing first-half goals for the League One side.
Okoye was in goal for the second half of the match, keeping a 'half clean sheet' for the Hornets. The 22-year-old shot-stopper ensured that Bolton Wanderers did not add to their tally while he was in goal.
We will get better - Maduka Okoye on Watford pre-season
In the aftermath of the friendly match, Okoye told the official Watford website that he is optimistic that the Watford team would get better after suffering their first pre-season defeat.
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The Super Eagles goalkeeper explained that the match against the Wanderers was a bit difficult from the start but he promised that he had his teammates are starting to catch on.
Okoye said: "I think it was quite difficult in the beginning which is understandable because this is new for us. We’ll find our way; you can see in the second half we were way better and we’ve shown progress.”
Watford drew their first pre-season fixture against Greek side FC Panathinaikos on Sunday, July 10. Okoye was in goal for the second half of the match as the Hornets played a goalless draw with the Ivan Jovanovic-led side.
Okoye connecting with new Watford teammates
Maduka Okoye also revealed that he has been getting along well with his new teammates at Watford, stating that they found ways to have fun despite working very hard.
"It’s been fantastic. I've had a great time already, there are funny guys and good vibes here. I think that’s important, we feel connected to other players and the staff, I’m settling in very well," the former Sparta Rotterdam player said of his pre-season experience with Watford so far.
“It was nice, we had a good time. We worked very hard but we had fun and a smile on our faces, and we made steps in the right direction. Now we’re back and continuing with our hard work.”
Maduka Okoye joined up with Watford ahead of the 2022/23 season, having signed for the Hornets in January 2022. He is expected to be the first-choice goalkeeper for Watford after Ben Forster ran down his contract at the end of the 2021/22 season.