Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores says Heurelho Gomes sits alongside Manchester United stopper David De Gea and former Spanish international Santiago Cañizares as one of the top three goalkeepers he has coached.

The Brazilian, who joined the Golden Boys last year after leaving Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer, produced a man of the match performance on Saturday to help the Hornets come away from Bournemouth with a 1-1 draw.

With Watford under pressure in the second period, the 34-year-old made a stunning one handed save to push clear Steve Cook’s excellent overhead kick before stopping Glenn Murray’s late penalty.

It was little surprise Flores was quick to praise Gomes in his post-match press conference and the Spaniard said: “To compare someone with Heurelho today is difficult.

"I have trained very good goalkeepers: David De Gea, Santiago Canizares and Gomes. We are talking about three players who are all at a very high level.”

“Heurelho is an amazing goalkeeper,” Flores continued. “He is an amazing professional and that is the most important thing for us.

“He went into the dressing room and didn’t give any importance to the penalty save. That is Heurelho.

"I am very happy with his save. We are not a team who concede a lot of attempts but when we do Heurelho is there. If we concede four or five attempts we know Heurelho is ready to save.”

Gomes’ influence extends far beyond the pitch, however. The Hornets goalkeeper is one of the dressing room leaders. He has played in the Premier League before and knows what it entails.

“The boys have shown a lot of respect to me and I show them the same respect,” Gomes said after Saturday’s game.

“A leader has to be like this and that is what it has been like since I joined. I try and be a leader with Troy (Deeney), Etienne (Capoue) and the other players.

“We need to lift the players sometimes. When we are winning it is easy but if the game isn’t in a good condition we have to be ready to support the boys. I am always trying to help them.”