A modest Moussa Dembele heaped praise on Ross McCormack, crediting the Scottish international with making him a better player, after the pair scored the crucial goals that secured a second straight win for Slavisa Jokanovic’s side at Preston.
The French teenager grabbed the winner at Deepdale last night, reacting quickest to turn McCormack’s free-kick home from close range after it bounced back off the post and Dembele was quick to underline the importance of the duo’s partnership that has delivered an astounding 39 goals in all competitions this season.
Ross is a good player. He understands my position well and when I make a run he knows where I’m going and gives me the ball. It’s the same for me; when I see his run I try to put the ball in the best position to score. We have a good partnership and hopefully we’ll keep doing well for the team.
As a striker my first job is to score. I’m a goalscorer, I like to score, and I’ve managed to do that when I’ve had the chance. It’s all for the team and all for the club.
Fulham were forced on the back foot for large periods of the second half, but showed real character to cling onto their advantage under sustained bombardment from Simon Grayson’s side throughout nearly ten minutes of stoppage time. Dembele admitted it was far from a perfect performance, but was delighted to claim a priceless victory.
It was a hard match. Preston is a tough team to play and they were at home so it was even harder, but we showed some resilience and managed to score two goals away from home which won the game, so we’re happy. It was an important win for us. We won Saturday and again at Preston which were two massive games for us, and now we go onto the next one on Saturday.
Dembele, who has been heavily linked with a move away from Craven Cottage when his contract expires in the summer, believes Fulham have the quality to easily avoid the drop – a feeling only boosted by the fact the Whites are now seven points clear of the relegation zone.
I’ve always been confident of this. When I’m in training and when I’m in games I can see the quality of the team, there’s no doubt about and I’m 100 per cent sure we’ll stay in the league. As I said last week, every game is a final for us. We have to go out on Saturday and show everybody what we can do. We must fight 100 per cent for the Club, and I think that’s what will happen Saturday.
