Heurelho Gomes praises Watford after penalty heroics at West Brom

Heurelho Gomes chose to highlight his team's performance rather than his own after his double penalty save all-but secured Watford's status in the Premier League.

The Hornets claimed a vital 1-0 victory, thanks to Ben Watson's first-half strike, to move beyond the 40-point mark in the league.

The result, however, owed much to Gomes' contribution as he single-handedly thwarted two Saido Berahino penalties in the second half.

Gomes became the first goalkeeper in Premier League history to save two penalties in two separate games, having denied Sunderland striker Darren Bent twice from the spot while playing for Tottenham in 2010.

"It was a great feeling, we needed this," Gomes told Sky Sports. "It was a huge win, we knew before that Sunderland were winning."

Asked to describe his saves, Gomes added: "I needed to wait for the ball, the first one I moved to my left to give him possibility to kick to my right.

"The second one I just waited for him to decide and I pushed as hard as I could and I saved it. Now we need to keep going. We need to be prepared to go back to work and work hard as I always tried to do."

The victory moved Quique Sanchez Flores' side above West Brom in the Premier League and virtually ensured top-flight football for another season at Vicarage Road.

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It means this current Watford side are on course to become the first to avoid relegation to the Championship the season following promotion.

And Gomes was quick to highlight the collective effort from everyone associated with Watford after a successful season.

"The boys deserve everything too, they work so hard and this is a very difficult place to come," he said. "We knew that before the game we had to be very strong to defend our advantage.

"The boys, the club and the fans deserve credit (for reaching the 40-point mark). The fans push us all the way from last season until now.

"This club has a massive possibility to grow in the Premier League and stay up, it's not mathematically yet but we have a huge possibility to stay up and build a stronger squad for next season.

"Our focus is always on our game and it's been like that from the beginning of the season. We have never been in a dangerous situation and we deserve the place we have now."