Tim Ream is targeting a first win of the season at Huddersfield this weekend to kickstart Fulham’s promotion push.

The Whites were held to a 1-1 draw in their Championship opener against Middlesbrough on Sunday and the veteran defender wants his side to send a message to the rest of the division by recording a win in west Yorkshire on Saturday. Ream, who skippered the side in the absence of Tom Cairney last weekend, told FFCTV this afternoon, that racking up points early on will be important as the campaign unfolds:

“You want to get a win early. We were looking like it was going to be that at the weekend but we’re not discouraged and we want to get a win on the board as quickly as possible. We’re obviously targeting that on Saturday at Huddersfield and we can kick on from there. The first win is important. Starting the Championship well is important and not dropping as many points early on is the key to staying at the top this season.

“It is a typical Championship game. You probably are going to have spells where you dominate and have some where you’re going to be under it a little bit. Tomorrow will be the first day when we look at film and look at how they’re going to come against us. We do a lot more on ourselves – we know our shape, we know our structure, it’s just a matter of getting everything well oiled.”

Ream admitted that the draw against Neil Warnock’s men remains a source of frustration, but insisted that Fulham’s confidence had not been dented by the result.

“It is still frustrating. Obviously, we did a lot of good things in the match. Some good attacking play, overall pretty solid. You sum up the goal as a little of lucky bounce on the wing and it just kind of squirted around. It is frustrating to give up a goal on their only real shot on target, but that’s the Championship, isn’t it? You just have to analyse what we’ve done well, analyse what we could do better and go again on Saturday.

We’re not down on ourselves and doubting where we are as a team. The energy is still high in training, the intensity is still very much ramped up. Guys are looking forward to going into games and getting good results – that doesn’t change because we got a draw on the weekend.”