Tim Ream insists there’s ‘no hangover’ from Fulham’s ‘awful’ relegation season as he targets an immediate return to the top flight.

The experienced American centre half, interviewed by Peter Rutzler in the Athletic this morning, pulls no punches in his assessment of Fulham’s failure to stay up.

“It was awful. There’s no getting around it. I’m honest. There were times when I just thought, ‘What are we doing?’ It was hard. It was difficult. It was unenjoyable. Listen, any time you are losing and you are not moving up the table, it’s unenjoyable. For me, it was doubly unenjoyable because you’re not playing, you feel like you’re not part of the team. You’re sitting on the bench, but you’re not really contributing.

“It’s a drag when you get a couple of results and you think we have a chance here and then you don’t take advantage. The guys who are playing, that wears on them. And the guys who aren’t playing, you’re thinking, ‘Man, these guys are struggling’. But at the same time, the whole team is mentally breaking down, because those are missed chances. You see it every year in every division. It’s tough to stay focused in the moment when you kind of think: ‘Where is this leading to?'”