Fulham struggled on Tuesday night - but not as much as Lasse Vigen Christensen over the last year.
The Whites midfielder appeared after 60 minutes in the 3-0 defeat to Wolves when the game was all but up - and the Danish U21 player knows the sorry feeling.
When he had just established himself in the first team last December and was attracting attention from the likes of Aston Villa, he suffered hamstring injuries to both legs.
Just when it looked as if he would be back in contention, a new setback returned him to the rehab suite.
All in all, the 21-year-old made 32 appearances in a stop start campaign (see gallery below) - but the last of them came at the end of February.
Now, he wants to make up for lost time, including Sunday’s visit to Charlton for the south versus west London derby.
“I had been quite lucky up to then with injuries and that,” Christensen said. “I really struggled getting back, almost thought I was there and wasn’t quite right, and had to stay out for 12 weeks.
“It’s been tough since.
“Maybe I underestimated how tough it was going to be coming back; on and off, but still working hard. Mentally and physically it was hard and maybe I took that into this new season.
“I’ve come back trying to get back to where I was last season and be important to games. I’m not too far off now, but it will need a few more weeks.”
Christensen has an even better chance of starting at The Valley knowing £4m summer signing Tom Cairney is a forced absentee after he picked up a straight red on Tuesday following an injudicious challenge on Wolves forward Adam Le Fondre.
The Dane is ready to not only take Cairney’s place, but retain it on merit.
Christensen added: “A lot of players have come in to make it hard for the likes of me to play week in week out, even though the team is not always winning.
“It’s going to be tough, but I’m positive I can get back to where I was and I’ll get a lot of games and make a difference.”
Fulham have another problem at right-back after Ryan Fredericks pulled up with a groin problem against Wolves. Whites are already short to fill the slot with Jazz Richards missing the last two matches as well.
Boss Kit Symons said: "Yeah, from fairly early on Ryan tightened up in his groin a little bit.
"We saw how quick he was on Friday night against QPR, but he wasn’t able to open up and go at full pace so we had to take him off. We’ll have to assess him before Charlton."
