New signing Richie Laryea hasn’t yet made his debut in English football, but he is already well aware what it means to play for Nottingham Forest.
Head coach Steve Cooper says the full-back has quickly settled into life Trentside, after making the move from MLS side Toronto earlier this month.
He was not involved as the Reds triumphed 1-0 at Millwall last weekend, and Cooper says it will take time for him to get up to speed.
But the Canada international has made a good first impression on his new boss.
“He’s been good. He’s settled in here,” Cooper said.
“It will take a little while because of the time difference, and the completely different change of culture and training intensity. And he hasn’t played so many games recently because the MLS was in its off-season.
“We have to make sure his programme is right.
“I had a good chat with Richie this week, saying it’s really important to use this initial period as a bit of an introductory period.
“Of course we want him to train well and be fighting for a place in the team, that goes without saying.
“Who knows when we’ll see him. It might be sooner rather than later, I can’t tell you that.
“But at the same time, you have to give these new lads time to breathe and take it all in, recognise where they are - particularly the ones who have travelled from abroad and come from outside of Europe.
“It’s a short and a longer-term approach.
“Short-term in that, ‘come on, get here as quick as you can, fight for a place, train well and get involved with the spirit and everything else that makes the training ground the place it is’.
“But at the same time there’s that little bit of, ‘okay, deep breaths, how are you finding it?’.
“They go hand in hand.”
Laryea got his first taste of the City Ground atmosphere when he watched from the stands as Arsenal were dumped out of the FA Cup a couple of weeks ago.
And whether he plays or not, he is likely to be there again tomorrow, for a highly-anticipated clash with Derby County.
“He was here for the Arsenal game. That was a nice one for him to experience,” Cooper added.
“He definitely understands what this club is and what it means.
“I’ve only been here two minutes myself, but the new players that have joined, once they get a sniff of here… It’s so easy now to access what this club is, the history and the present.
“There’s not many players or staff who walk in here not having been pretty well versed in what it takes to be here, and what an honour it is.
“Richie is a bright guy and an intelligent guy, you can see that. He wants to show what he can do.”
