Fulham captain Tom Cairney has said that he is relishing the competition for places at the Cottagers this season.

Last season's Championship playoff winners signed 12 new players in the summer transfer window, with the arrival of Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa completing a busy deadline day last week.

Cairney is one of Fulham's most important players, but the 27-year-old has insisted that he will have to play well in order to keep his spot in the first XI.

"I was sat watching it just like everyone else, like 'another one'. It was exciting. It's really good. Being a player you want to play with the best players and against good players as you can," Cairney told Sky Sports News.

"You've got to give a lot of credit to the owners. They've backed us, showed a lot of ambition and they're right behind us. It's down to us now to repay them."

"You think, 'wow, it's even harder to stay in the team,' but if you want to stay in this league for a long time you need that competition for places, you need quality."

Fulham will look to bounce back from their opening-weekend defeat to Crystal Palace when they travel to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.