IT may have meant leaving home in the middle of the night but Pars new boy Xavier Benjamin is "grateful" for the chance they have given him.
The 20-year-old completed a move from Cardiff City until the end of the season on transfer deadline day, which was confirmed 15 minutes before the window closed last Thursday evening.
Less than 24 hours later, the former Fulham youth academy product was taking part in his first training session with his new team-mates after leaving at 3.45am to travel north to Dunfermline.
Benjamin, who moved to South Wales in 2022, has linked up with fellow central defender and Cardiff loanee, Malachi Fagan-Walcott, and made his debut in Saturday's defeat to Greenock Morton.
"It has been crazy, packing, travelling. Cardiff is a long way away but I’m grateful to be here, grateful for the opportunity. I just need to go and show what I can do," he said.
"Malachi and I will be rooming together. We got to know each other at Cardiff but I had known of him when he was at Spurs. I used to be at Fulham and we used to play each other in London.
"The boys, the manager and coaching staff have all been welcoming, they helped me settle in and made me feel comfortable. I only travelled up on Friday morning (of last week).
"You can see it, the morale in the changing room - everybody is happy, it is easy to talk to people, get to know people. It is good - Malachi has helped me settle in as well.
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"It came about late on Thursday. I went into training at Cardiff and I didn’t know anything about this move. I just wanted to go because I needed the experience in the next level of my career."
Benjamin joined Fulham's academy in 2012 and, during his time at Craven Cottage, played 27 times in the Under-18 Premier League.
From there he moved to Cardiff, for whom he has made Carabao and FA Cup appearances this season, playing mainly with the Bluebirds' under-21s, who he has captained regularly.
He credited his time with Fulham as being where he "changed from a boy into a man", reflecting: "I was there from when I was nine until I was 18. I really grew up there.
"Last season, I went back just to see a few faces, which shows how much love I have for them.
"Fulham was a great club for me. They helped me get where I’m today.
"I trained once with the first team at Fulham and the intensity was crazy, sky high.
"There was a first team player called Michael Hector (38 Jamaican international caps, and who spent time on loan at Aberdeen in 2013-2014), and he is at Charlton now.
"He used to come down to under-18 sessions and under-16 sessions to help me because he is a big centre back. I always want to improve.
"Romaine Sawyers, a big leader in the Cardiff first team, has helped me a lot too."
Benjamin, who said he "can play the ball and pass but I like to defend, be a leader and command from the back", continued: "I am 20-years-old, I played last season when I was 19 in the under-21s and I feel that I can push on now.
"I’d love to get better each year and I hope the Scottish Championship brings a lot of joy, wins and happiness to develop my game.
"When I knew I was coming up here I did my research. The fans are great and they show passion. When you work hard for them, you will always have their backing, which I like.
"One thing about me is that I’m very passionate. I like to lead by example. I always try to get that one per cent better each day, each game, each training session, every time I’m on the field."
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