Slavisa Jokanovic lavished praise on his Fulham players after his side produced what he felt was close to a complete performance as they saw off fellow promotion chasers Barnsley at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
The Serbian head coach is a notoriously hard task master so his contentment at the quality of Fulham’s display can be taken as high praise indeed. Jokanovic felt Fulham were good value for their victory and was pleased that his defence, which included the fit-again Tomas Kalas, recorded another clean sheet.
I am also proud of my players for today’s performance. We created many chances, kept another clean sheet and found the right balance during the game which is more important news for us. I am happy with my team and we show ambition for the future and trying to get a place in the top six.
Jokanovic once again reiterated that he is not getting carried away with Fulham’s elevated position in the Championship table – eschewing all thoughts of what the final standings may look like in May and focusing solely on the next fixture, which will be a local derby with QPR next Saturday lunchtime.
Right now my whole focus is on the QPR game next weekend where we have a chance to get another three points. I am not thinking about May. We try and enter each game with same intensity to make sure we get the three points. We enter a busy period now but I am not thinking about promotion I am only thinking about the next game in front of us.
The Fulham head coach also played down the furore over Chris Martin’s return to the starting line-up and admitted he has been working hard to convince the on-loan forward that his future remains in London,
He played for his team mates and for Fulham. Everyone knows how important he is for us. We are trying to convince him to stay with us. Today he had a good performance and we are happy that he is back. I don’t know why people ask me about Chris Martin so much this is not his first game for Fulham.
He was a little bit confused with the situation and now he has a clear mind. I expect he will play for us in the future as well. In general we have to forget about this situation and carry on with preparing for the next game. This is the best situation for the club and player. I have made it clear he will be with us until the end of the season and that is it.
