Watford keeper Bachmann out for up to three months

Daniel Bachmann has played in 22 of Watford's 25 Championship games this season

Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann will be out for up to three months because of an ankle ligament injury.

The 30-year-old Austrian went down near the end of Saturday's 2-1 home defeat by Sheffield United.

Boss Tom Cleverley ruled out a dislocated ankle or ruptured Achilles tendon following the game.

Watford confirmed on Wednesday they had decided surgery was the best course of action for Bachmann, reiterating he would be out for around 10-12 weeks.

"We've committed to doing the surgery," Cleverley explained. "We all feel like it is an injury that is high risk of reoccurring, so we decided to fix it straight away."

Bachmann has made 138 appearances for the club since arriving at Vicarage Road from Stoke City in the summer of 2017.

"Dan felt at the time that something had cracked or popped, and you can see why he'd have had those sensations at the time," Cleverley said.

"The ligament he's damaged is a significant one for the structure of the ankle."

Jonathan Bond, who rejoined the Hornets last summer, will take over as first-choice for the time being, but Bachmann's injury may mean Watford look to sign another keeper during the transfer window.

Myles Roberts has just returned from a loan spell at Partick Thistle and Cleverley added: "Although we had another loan experience ready for him we'll have to re-assess for now on that one."

Watford are next in action on Thursday when they face Premier League club Fulham at Craven Cottage in the third round of the FA Cup.