Cyrus Christie has admitted he hoped for more of a first team role when he signed for Fulham in January.
But the defender is overjoyed to have ended the season with Wembley delight and play-off success with the Cottagers, saying Fulham can go on to achieve “great things” in the Premier League.
Christie was one of Middlesbrough’s best performers in the first half of the season under Garry Monk but Tony Pulis quickly identified Ryan Shotton as his first choice right-back after taking charge in December.
When Slavisa Jokanovic came calling, Pulis didn’t stand in Christie’s way and while the Republic or Ireland’s fast and tidy style of play suits Fulham’s eye-catching approach, the former Derby man has been a victim of the excellence of another ex-Boro defender – Ryan Fredericks.
The form of Fredericks meant Christie had only played 135 minutes of football for the Cottagers before he was brought off the bench for the final seven minutes of Saturday’s play-off final against Aston Villa.
At one point, it seemed Fredericks’ time at Fulham was coming to an end with the former Spurs man yet to extend a contract that expires this summer and with several Premier League clubs keen. That would have opened the door for Christie to nail down a spot in the side.
But now Fredericks has revealed he’s keen to stay at Craven Cottage.
“It’s up to the people behind the scenes but I’m sure everyone will want to stay and play at the highest level with Fulham and see what we can achieve,” Fredericks told the Evening Standard after Saturday’s Wembley success.
“Can this club allow me to fulfil my ambitions? Of course. You look at the players we’re attracting, like Aleksandar Mitrovic, we’ve already got Premier League players in the Championship so I’m sure we’re going to build again and have many years in the Premier League.”
Despite failing to oust Fredericks from the Fulham side, Christie insists he’s pleased and proud to be part of a team that he thinks can kick on after securing promotion.
He said: “I’ve come here and we’re now in the Premier League, so it’s a great feeling.
“I don’t think I can describe the feeling, to be honest – it’s a fantastic achievement and we’re all looking forward to next season.
“I’d have liked to have come and play more but I’ve come to a team that are playing really well and fair play to the lads, we drove each other on and it’s been fantastic to get over the final hurdle.
“I think a lot of people wrote us off when we lost two on the bounce but we knew we could do it.
“There was talk from a lot of other camps saying we weren’t going to do it because of the pressure, but we rose to the occasion.”
Looking ahead to next season, Christie added: “We want to survive.
“We want to go there and play our football; we’ve got a great identity in how we play football and we’ll have to go and stamp our identity and the way we play to carry on what we’ve done this season.
“If you look at the team and the age of us, we have massive potential.
“We can do great things – we have a great team and a great manager as well, so the spirit in the team is always fantastic.
“It’s time to kick on and show what we can do next season.”
