The defender has yet to force his way into the first team picture at Craven Cottage but with the Olympics now a fading memory, it is all about making an impression at club level.

The former Melbourne Victory defender told fulhamfc.com: "My last year here was very stop-start because of the national team.

"I put a lot of time into that and Fulham were great about it, so from my point of view now I feel it’s time to repay them for being patient with me.

"So that’s my main focus now and that’s the way I want it to be for the next few years. I want to have an impact at the club, it’s a great club and I want to put Fulham first now."

After all the travel Leijer is happy to be back in London and after 12 months there, is really getting to grips with English life.

"It’s good to be back. I went back to Australia to see my family and friends over the summer, but you know your life is over here at the moment so when I arrived home a couple of weeks ago it felt like London was home now. Coming back to Fulham and training was good and you just want to get back into things, so now I’m looking forward to getting on with the season," he said.