Urby Emmanuelson was delighted to make his Fulham debut in the narrow defeat by Manchester United on Saturday – and the midfielder felt the Whites were unlucky not to get a point after their spirited showing.

The Dutch international, who only trained with his new team-mates for the first time on Friday, was impressed with Fulham’s all-round display and added a swifter tempo when he replaced Giorgos Karagounis midway through the second half.

It wasn’t an easy game to make my debut in. It was a tough match, but in the second half we really fought well and it looked like we would get at least a point.

We fought as a team. You saw in the second half that we were getting stronger and stronger. We were unlucky in the box as well. But with the strikers they have, they can always score goals. We can be happy with the way we played, of course, but the result was not what we wanted.

Emmanuelson says he’s happy to play anywhere across the midfield and feels comfortable in the centre, where he slotted in alongside Chris Baird, despite making most of his appearances for AC Milan on the left.

I’m comfortable playing there. I’m used to playing in a lot of positions and with my style of play I can play anywhere in the midfield. It’s started for me now and I want to grow as a player and help the team. The result wasn’t to be but I’m really happy that I got some minutes on the pitch and it went well.

It’s a good feeling to make my debut. I just want to play more than I was in Milan. I’d only trained once with Fulham before the game so I’m happy that I could play 25 minutes.

He also confirmed that his decision to join Fulham had a lot to do with Martin Jol, who had been his boss during his time at Ajax.

Martin Jol was a big part of the move as I’d worked already with him. I need a little bit of trust at the moment and he’s a coach who believes in me. That is one of the big reasons why I came here. It feels like a great group of players here. Everybody is making jokes and I’ve been made to feel very welcome. I’m really happy that I’m here and I’m looking forward to showing the fans what I can do on the pitch.