Fulham defender Tomas Kalas hopeful of following in Andreas Christensen's footsteps at Chelsea

Fulham defender Tomas Kalas believes there is still a chance he could break into the first team at Chelsea and is looking to follow in the footsteps of Andreas Christensen, who has forced his way into reckoning at Stamford Bridge after a spell away on loan.

Kalas, who is currently in his second season on loan at the Blues' West London rivals Fulham, has made a couple of fleeting appearances for the Premier League champions but has spent the majority of his career out on loan with the likes of Vitesse Arnhem, Middlesbrough and the Cottagers.

Chelsea are known for stockpiling young talent but Christensen has proved to be somewhat of an anomaly. The Dane has established himself in the first-team set-up under Antonio Conte, with David Luiz in limbo after being dropped from the squad as his side secured a 1-0 victory over Manchester United. Very few players on Chelsea's loan roster manage to do this but Kalas, who initially joined the outfit in 2010, hasn't given up hope just yet.

"Yeah, he's one of two who have made it so it's still not a big number but at least it gives us players on loan hope that we can make it through at Chelsea," Kalas told GetWestLondon.

"But obviously, it comes with games and he's had a lot of games in Germany so I still need to get to that point where I'll have loads of games at one team, because he stayed a few seasons at Mönchengladbach and he played literally every game and playing in that team, they finished high in the Bundesliga.

"That's some kind of achievement already, so after that he could claim himself as a player that is ready to replace one of the three, I still didn't have that many games in one team so after this season it might be my time but I don't know.

"Chelsea have been in touch a few times and sometimes Paulo Ferreira comes and talks to me and show me some video clips of what I'm doing wrong and what I'm doing right and asks me how it's going on and off the pitch.

"They can just help me or ask if I need help."

Kalas may have one eye on a return to Stamford Bridge, but his immediate focus is on helping Fulham's fading promotion push come back to life. The Czech Republic international was dropped by manager Slavisa Jokanovic as the Whites succumbed to a 2-0 defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday (3 November), but he will hoping to regain his place in the starting line-up when Derby County visit Craven Cottage.