New Fulham signing Michael Hector has admitted it will be difficult not being able to play for the club until January.
The defender signed a new contract at Craven Cottage earlier this week, but the move will not become official until the January transfer window, meaning the 27-year-old will have to wait for several months before he can make his debut for his new club.
Despite not making a senior appearance for Chelsea during his four years with the club, Hector did enjoy plenty of game time on loan with the likes of Reading, Hull, Frankfurt and Sheffield Wednesday while he was a Chelsea player, meaning this is set to be an unusual experience for the defender.
Speaking to Fulham's official website about not being able to play until January, Hector said: “With the football I’ve had over the last couple of years, obviously I love playing Saturday-Tuesday, whenever I can, so it’s going to be hard to just be training and watching the lads play.
“But it gives me time to get used to the way things are done here and to get to know my teammates and the Gaffer, and how he likes to do things."
Even though he will have wait some time until he is able to get back on the pitch this season, it seems Hector is already targeting big things with the Cottagers this season, as he added: “Hopefully things can work out well and we can get promoted. I know how tough the Championship is and it won’t be any different for us.
“We’ll have to work hard for it but the squad is very good and my job will be to help them push for promotion.”
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Fulham currently sit sixth in the Championship standings after winning three and drawing one of their first six league games of the season.
Scott Parker's side are next in action, without Hector, when they host West Brom at Craven Cottage a week on Saturday.
The Verdict
In a way, I don't actually think this is too bad a situation for Hector to be in.
Having failed to secure a move away from Chelsea before the end of the summer transfer window, I don't think he would have got many first-team opportunities with Frank Lampard's side between now and January anyway.
This way, Hector does at least have the opportunity to train with his new teammates, allowing him to become more familiar with them and the tactics employed by Scott Parker before he takes to the pitch in a Fulham shirt.
Even so, it is hard to replicate match conditions in training, and it may mean that Hector still takes some time to get fully up to speed once he finally makes his Cottagers debut.