Martin Jol is desperate to get a first league win under his belt and end Fulham’s poor start to the season against Blackburn Rovers this afternoon.
Fulham have just one point from three games – having lost their two away matches at Wolves and Newcastle – and will kick-off against Rovers with both sides in the relegation zone. Jol knows that he needs to get some wins on the board.
It doesn’t matter where you play, we need points and to get out of a situation where we are bottom of the league. All the teams that are there will tell you the same so they will try to win and we will try to get the result. I feel (the need to win) is probably the same as for the opposition. We need the points.
Jol has revealed that he doesn’t expect to start all of his new signings this afternoon. Bryan Ruiz is probably most likely to start, whilst Zdenek Grygera and Orlando Sa could start from the bench.
I would have a worry playing all three of them on Sunday. We have got a good team and I wouldn’t play all them. Why should I? We have a good team, especially at home.
The Fulham boss believes that Fulham’s start to the campaign hasn’t been helped by two successive away games and admits the Whites will need to improve their dire record away from Craven Cottage.
I don’t feel the programme helped, of course, because we played one home game – where I still think we should have had a win – and then we play three away matches. That is never easy and I think Fulham have won eight games in the last three years away from home so we have to do better in that respect.
Jol has also sought to play down people’s expectations of Ruiz, insisting that the Costa Rican may need time to adapt to the demands of English football.
Most of the people will tell you that Luis Suarez was one of the few that never had a problem. He fitted in straight away but most of the other players will tell you that the tempo is a bit higher, the pace, the quality of the game is very good in England.
It wouldn’t be strange or awkward if they need a couple of weeks to gel with the other players. There was never a feeling that he would leave us or go somewhere else. Twente were good and everybody knows we have got the budget so everybody knows I am happy to stay within the budget with these four or five players.
