There can be few more patient footballers than Michael Hector, the Fulham defender who spent half the campaign training but ineligible to play as he waited for the January transfer window to clear his £8million move from Chelsea that had been agreed before autumn took hold.
Once that clearance arrived he stepped straight into Scott Parker's side, immediately impressing on debut against Aston Villa in the FA Cup to make one of the centre half spots his own. But then coronavirus shut the world down for three months and he was left in stasis as more time passed by without action.
The 28-year-old trained diligently, confident that he would be in top form once football was allowed to resume, and he has found a new level since the restart.
While last night's play-off semi-final second leg against Cardiff City was about Marek Rodak's supreme work in goal and a collective effort to repel the Welsh side, it remains hard to argue against Hector's importance to the overall structure of Parker's side.
As composed as he is dominant, Hector is the glue man in a defence that has improved markedly since his integration.
This was his 22nd Championship appearance for Fulham and they have kept a clean sheet in half of them, conceding 20 times (a figure massaged by allowing three in against Sheffield Wednesday).
Before January Parker's team had kept seven clean-sheets in 26 games, conceding 30 times.
No wonder he has been given the nickname Virgil van Mike inside the changing room.
While he may have done more to stop Lee Tomlin from making it 2-1 to Cardiff on the night, reducing Fulham's aggregate lead to 3-2 and ensuring a nervy conclusion, Hector's standout moment came in the first leg of this tie on Monday night when he made a remarkable sliding clearance to deny Robert Glatzel with the game still scoreless.
It was arguably the match-saving challenge of the season in any division across England but perhaps forgotten about because of the quality of the goals that followed.
Hector may not get the plaudits of leading goalscorer Aleksandar Mitrovic or the stylists in midfield such as Tom Cairney, Harrison Reed and, lately, Josh Onomah. But his impact cannot be understated.
His next job will be to keep Brentford's fearsome front three quiet at Wembley on Tuesday. Succeed and Fulham will likely be back in the Premier League and Hector will be given the opportunity he has craved for years.
