MUHAMED BESIC admits he will be trying to make up for lost time as he attempts to kick-start his career with a loan spell at Middlesbrough.

Besic joined Boro on a season-long loan from Everton on Wednesday, and is set to go straight into Tony Pulis’ squad for tomorrow’s Championship game at Norwich City.

Three-and-a-half years ago, the 25-year-old Bosnia international was regarded as one of the most promising players in Eastern European football, with Everton shelling out more than £4m to sign him from Hungarian side Ferencvaros.

He made a strong early impression after signing a five-year contract at Goodison Park, but has spent most of the last two seasons languishing on the fringe of Everton’s first team.

A succession of injury problems hampered his development, and after failing to make a single senior appearance in the whole of last season, his only first-team starts this term came in Everton’s ill-fated Europa League campaign and the third round of the Carabao Cup.

He needs to get back into the swing of playing regular football, and sees this week’s move to Teesside as an ideal opportunity to draw a line under his recent disappointments.

“My first season in English football was amazing, but then I had two seasons of problems,” said Besic, who will compete with Grant Leadbitter, Jonny Howson and Adam Clayton for a central-midfield role. “This season, I came back from a big injury and the coach had changed. That is business though, that is life, and I will just continue.

“This is a really good opportunity for me. I didn’t play for a long time because I had some injuries before moving, and from what I have seen, this is a really big club. I’m looking forward to it.”

Middlesbrough initially inquired about Besic a couple of weeks ago, but their interest cooled when it looked as though Everton would be reluctant to allow him to leave.

A second approach proved more productive, with a phone call from Tony Pulis persuading the midfielder to spurn alternative offers in order to move to Teesside. Having started his career with Hamburg, Besic could have returned to Germany, but Pulis persuaded him to drop to the Championship and he is determined to repay his new manager’s faith.

“I could have gone to some other clubs, but I decided to stay in England and because of Tony Pulis, I decided to come here,” he said. “I want to prove to him that it was the right decision for him to take me.

“I went from Germany to Hungary, and then to England. That was my destination, but I like England and it feels like home now. I could have gone abroad, but I wanted to stay in England.

“Now, I want to prove to the manager that it was the right decision to take me, and I want to try to bring forward the football club.”

Besic was one of two new arrivals on deadline day, with Martin Cranie also moving to Teesside on a season-long loan from Huddersfield Town.

The versatile defender can play in any position in the back four, and boasts a large amount of experience having played for Southampton, Coventry and Barnsley before moving to Huddersfield.

He was a member of the Terriers squad that won promotion from the Championship last term, coming off the bench in last May’s play-off final win over Reading, and is hoping his knowledge of the second tier will prove a valuable asset in the remainder of Middlesbrough’s season.

“I’ve played in this division for a lot of years now, so maybe for the boys that haven’t played a lot of games at this level or the foreign lads coming in, if I can help in any way then I will be more than happy,” said Cranie.

“But I’ve come here to help on the pitch as well as I still feel I’ve got a lot of years left in me. I still feel fit, so hopefully I can bring something on the pitch to help the team.”