AT just 5 foot 4 inches tall, Ryan Fraser is one of the smallest players in the English Premier League. But that hasn’t prevented the Aberdonian from having lofty ambitions.

Fraser is part of the Bournemouth side which has had a storming start to the season. Two wins, a draw and one defeat sees the club sitting pretty in sixth place in the table and although it is early days, the signs are that the team are set to better their 12th-place finish from last season.

Fraser is likely to be integral in ensuring Bournemouth remain in the top half of the table as this season progresses but his time south of the border has not been all plain sailing. His first season, after signing from his home team of Aberdeen at the start of 2013, was hugely successful, with the then teenager helping Bournemouth gain promotion to the Championship in his first few months and going on the following season to become a key member in the side, making 41 appearances and scoring four goals.

Following Bournemouth’s promotion to the Premier League, Fraser went on a less than successful loan to Ipswich but his return to Eddie Howe’s side has seen him flourish this season and he is quick to point out that he is not content to be a mere bit-part player this year; rather, the 24-year-old has his sights set on making a real mark.

“The start to the season couldn’t have gone much better both personally and for the team,” he said. “This season I have tried to make more of an impact than I have in previous seasons. I’m trying to be the main man..

“I’m 24 now and I think if I want my career to go where I do then I have to step up now instead of letting the big players change the game. I want to be the one to change games.

“I started out in League One and then Championship so to now be in the Premier League and try to be the main man there is massive.”

Fraser may be an exception in the Premier League in terms of stature but players who are diminutive are becoming more common-place and the Scotland internationalist is well aware he is lucky that smaller players are being recognised as valuable assets to even the biggest of teams.

“The one thing I noticed when I first stepped up to the Premier League is that no defender is slow,” said the left-midfielder. “It used to be that you would get some defenders who were slow but they were always tall and physically tough. But in the Premier League, everyone is quick and everyone is big and when you pay against teams like Man U and Chelsea, no one is under 5,8”, except maybe Eden Hazard, but he is on another level.

“It is changing, though, with Man City having guys like David Silva and Raheem Sterling, I think it is more about technical ability now rather than everyone just being quick and strong.”

Certainly Fraser’s height, or lack thereof, hasn’t stopped him so far and he is currently second only to Mohamed Salah in terms of assists in the stats league. Fraser is desperate to continue making that kind of impact for his team, as well as adding his name to the scoresheet more frequently.

“Obviously bigger teams have more chances and I’m not going to beat Salah [on goal count] because he will get about seven or eight chances in a game whereas I might only get one or two,” he said. “But if I can keep creating these chances and, hopefully, taking a number of them myself, that will be great. I had very good chances against Chelsea last weekend and I didn’t quite take them but on another day I could have had two or three goals against Chelsea. It’s early doors but I do feel like this could be a big season for myself.”

Fraser is keen to not only improve his technical ability though, and has worked hard on the physical side of his game to give himself the best possible chance of becoming a first-choice pick in Howe’s starting line-up and, it seems, his hard work is already paying dividends.

“I used to come off the bench quite a lot because for me, I could only last 60 minutes in a game,” he admitted. “But now, with my fitness and what I do off the pitch, I think the manager believes I can play 90 minutes.

“I’ve played 90 minutes in almost every game so far. Before, I don’t think he trusted me to play 90 minutes so he’d say to me to come off the bench, but now he trusts me from the start.”