Fulham manager Martin Jol has revealed that he declined to tell new signing Bryan Ruiz that he was ineligible to play in Europe this season, as he felt it could hurt the London side's chances of landing the attacker.

The Costa Rican joined the Craven Cottage outfit from Dutch side Twente in the recently closed transfer window, and ironically Fulham have been drawn in the same group as Ruiz's former employers, with the teams going face-to-face on Thursday night.

The £10.6 million signing will not feature however, as he is ineligible; Ruiz featured in Twente's Champions League qualifier against Benfica, and will now have to watch the game from the sidelines.

The former Tottenham and Ajax coach admits that he may have kept the knowledge of Ruiz missing out under his hat.

"If he'd known before it maybe could have been a problem. I don't agree with this rule. I'd like all my players to be available. Maybe if they were playing in the same competition it would be OK , but this is a different competition," he told The Daily Mail.

Ruiz will now need to make do with English domestic football, and made a slow debut against Blackburn last weekend.

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