Viktor Fischer has insisted he is prepared to be patient in his search for first-team football as he continues to adapt to English football with Middlesbrough.
The Denmark international was a £4.25m summer recruit from Eredivisie side Ajax but, despite featuring seven times so far for the Teesiders, has only started three matches in all competitions since his switch to the Premier League.
Despite a lack of game time for his new club, however, Fischer is not one to kick up a fuss and he told Danish news outlet Bold that he is willing to keep working hard in training with the aim of becoming a regular starter at the Riverside stadium at some point during the season.
He said: "My feeling is that the club believes in me, and I will take small steps at a time.
"It's a different way than you might see with other purchases that go straight into the starting line-up, and then take it from there. I think they saw me as a purchase that can be good in the long term. I was also well aware that it would take time.
"It's hard to put a period (timescale on it), but I was aware that it would take time to play on the team. There are many things to learn.
"I'm starting to get used to the pace, and I'm doing the best I can every day on the training ground. When I come off the bench, I come in with a lot of energy. I have great confidence that it will be good in the long term."
The left winger also revealed the extent of his relationship with Boro boss Aitor Karanka, who led the North East outfit back into England's top flight for the first time in seven years last term.
Both Karanka and his first-team squad have had to quickly get used to the harsh realities of the Premier League, but the 15th-placed side will no doubt have been buoyed by the last-gasp 1-1 draw away to Manchester City last Saturday.
Middlesbrough's Viktor Fischer on his wait for first team football and relationship with Ait https://t.co/V8ivTGlEyl pic.twitter.com/7ZuqaREmYv
Fischer added that former Real Madrid assistant Karanka is the right man for the job on Teeside, and believes their working relationship will only blossom even further given time.
He said: "He is a very, very good tactician. He is a strong manager and a strong personality.
"He is close to the players and I also feel that I have a really, really good relationship with him."
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