Fulham’s automatic promotion hopes have gone from a distant dream to more of a reality

BY MATT VERRI

The dream of automatic promotion is becoming an increasingly realistic possibility for Fulham.

When Scott Parker’s men lost to Brentford on December 14, they were 12 points off second place and hanging on to a play-off spot on goal difference.

In fact, they were just three points ahead of Cardiff in 12th place and looked in danger of bringing dragged into the congested mid-table fight.

But a win in their next match at home to Leeds had a significant impact on both sides.

Since that defeat to Fulham, one that ended their 11-game unbeaten run, Marcelo Bielsa’s have taken just eight points from their last seven league matches

It’s been a similarly sorry run of form for Championship league leaders West Bromwich Albion, with seven points from their last eight games. This all leaves Fulham just four points off the top and three points off second.

And Saturday’s win over Huddersfield, one in which Fulham managed to look at times imperious and at other times incredibly vulnerable, kept the good feeling going strong.

You could have been forgiven for arriving at Craven Cottage expecting a largely uneventful affair.

Fulham went into the match having seen just six goals across their last five Championship matches, while only two teams have scored fewer than Huddersfield this season.

But the hosts started in sensational fashion, Bobby Decordova-Reid scoring a stunning solo effort before Tom Cairney and the returning Aleksandar Mitrovic got in on the action to give Fulham a 3-0 lead after half an hour.

Huddersfield had failed to muster a shot and Fulham looked to be cruising to a familiar position – no side has led at half-time in the Championship more often than Scott Parker’s men this season.

Fulham were looking for their fourth straight clean sheet in the league, boosted this month by Michael Hector finally being able to see action on the pitch.

Yet a period of chaos followed, Huddersfield scoring with their first two shots in the space of four minutes through Emile Smith-Rowe and Steve Mounie.

Fulham’s three goals were their only three shots on target in the match, the hosts largely on the back-foot in a second half where Marek Rodak was forced into six saves.

Five of those were to deny an increasingly disbelieving Karlan Grant, as the Fulham backline that had looked impressive in recent games was run ragged for large periods after the break.

The hosts held on though, and have lost only one of their last eight in the league since the three straight losses at the start of December.

Despite the nervy nature of the win, Parker believes there are positives to take that his side can lean on heading into the final months of the season.

“Something that has been levelled against this team a little bit, certainly from me at times, is that we are a bit a soft, and sometimes struggle to hold on to games,” he said.

“At the beginning of the season we probably end up on the wrong end of that result, but we saw out the game and that’s a positive.

“But we’re a young side and there is certainly some learning for us to do.

“It’s a tough, relentless league. The games come thick and fast. Over the course of the 90 minutes in the Championship it rarely just runs smoothly, teams are always in the game.”

Fulham have also been boosted by the return of Mitrovic, who scored his 19th goal of the season and is level with Ollie Watkins at the top of the division’s scoring charts.

“He’s worked hard to get fit into a position where he can last 90 minutes, fair play to him,” said Parker. “He shows he has real quality, so we’re pleased to have him back in the team.”

Fulham were without Terence Kongolo for the Huddersfield match, ineligible against his parent club, with the defender yet to make his league debut. It’s been a productive January window for Fulham alongside Kongolo’s loan move, turning Ivan Cavaleiro and Decordova-Reid’s loan moves into permanent deals, as well as bringing in Jordan Archer from Oxford United.

And the Fulham boss has called for his whole squad to play their part as they look to get back into the top-flight.

He said: “We are where we are, and we’re happy with that. This is it now, this is us.

“We have 16 games left, and the players we have in this squad are all going to have to contribute.

“They’ve contributed so far, everyone has contributed to the success we’ve had and getting us to where we are in this division, and that’s going to need to continue.

“We need to unite, we need to stick together, and we need to keep learning and growing as a team and hopefully we’ll get some positive results.”