Stephen Kelly has admitted he may have to consider a move away from Fulham to secure first-team football.

The Irish international only made 12 appearances for the Whites last season and, with Chris Baird seemingly replacing the departing John Pantsil as Mark Hughes’ first-choice right back, Kelly’s opportunities for regular game time appear limited.

Obviously I want to play football and I want to play all the time. That’s got to be my main aim and if that’s at Fuham then that’s great but if it’s somewhere else then so be it.

At his moment in time I’m still a Fulham player and that’s where my focus is. We’re in Europe next year and there’s going to be a lot of games so I’ll be looking forward to taking part in that

Kelly, who joined Fulham from Birmingham on a free transfer in the summer of 2009, featured prominently as Roy Hodgson’s side reached the final of the Europa League in his first season and the prospect of European football – and an opportunity to impress Hughes – might tempt him to stay at Craven Cottage. He is, however, concerned at the briefest of summer breaks, with Fulham’s first game scheduled for June 30th.

It’s going to be difficult; the schedule for us to be back is in the 23rd June, with our first game scheduled for the 30th June. That means we don’t break up until the 8th so it’s not much time off but hopefully I’ll get some special treatment because we’ve had eight games running. It’s not going to be much time off at all, straight back into qualifying for the Europa League.