Portsmouth defender Tal Ben Haim hopes his side can iron out their communication problems at the back ahead of the Barclays Premier League trip to Aston Villa.
The Israeli returned from international duty last weekend and was thrown straight into the fray for Pompey's 3-2 loss to fellow strugglers Bolton at Fratton Park.
Ben Haim has had very little time to establish an understanding with French-speaking defensive colleagues Younes Kaboul, Nadir Belhadj and Anthony Vanden Borre.
This prompted him to jokingly suggest: "After I learn English, I probably need to take some French lessons."
But the former Manchester City and Chelsea player knows the Pompey rearguard, which has conceded 10 goals in their opening five games, has to get on the same wavelength quickly.
He said: "We need to play a few games as a team and have a few training sessions together.
"Then the communication will be better because you can't play without good communication.
"Hopefully we can then get the results we need because it would make everything much better.
"We need to work on it and communicate in the training sessions - that's what the manager has done this week.
"Now we think the players feel much better and hopefully we can bring all that hard work on to the pitch on Saturday."
Ben Haim is keen to forge a strong partnership with former Tottenham defender Kaboul at the centre of defence.
While the 23-year-old has shown promise during a tough start to the season, Ben Haim is keen to help him progress in the coming months.
He added: "He's a very good young player - he's young and he still needs to learn. I hope he can improve and I can help him.
"He has great stature and just needs someone alongside him sometimes to give him some advice. The manager does that and I try to do that."
Despite spending hardly any time with his new team-mates before his bow against Bolton, Ben Haim had no qualms about being pitched straight into battle by manager Paul Hart.
"It was not the best preparation but I wanted to play," he continued. "The manager asked if I wanted to play.
"I knew the situation wasn't easy but I wanted to play because it was a very important game.
"In football you need to get used to things very, very quickly. If you don't, you're not a good player. I've had one game and now I need to settle in.
"The manager and staff have helped me and I feel very good at the moment. Now I am ready and there are no excuses."
One thing which impressed Ben Haim was the backing his side received from the suffering Fratton Park faithful despite their team's poor start to the season.
He said: "To be honest, the fans against Bolton were unbelievable. Given that we had lost the opening four games, that performance from them was unbelievable.
"They came along, tried to help us and push us and I think they appreciate the manager and their new team.
"The fans are not stupid - they know the situation and they were very good on Saturday. They pushed the team and helped the manager."
