Tom Cairney says he’s delighted to have signed a new long-term contract with Fulham and has called upon his team-mates to stay true to their footballing philosophy and ‘take a few teams on’.
The Fulham captain has already seen centre back Tim Ream follow his lead by signing a new contract at Craven Cottage and Cairney told talkSPORT earlier this evening that he hopes teenage starlet Ryan Sessegnon will soon commit his future to the club. Cairney, whose new contract runs until at least 2023, stressed the importance of keeping the squad that Slavisa Jokanovic guided back to the top flight together.
I’m hoping he [Sessegnon] stays and I’m hoping a lot more of our players stay. I think it’s important to keep the squad together in the dressing room that got promoted to the Premier League. I’m delighted to get [my] deal done.
The 28 year-old admitted that Fulham, who begin their pre-season with a behind closed doors friendly against Crawley Town tomorrow afternoon, will need to step up their recruitment ahead of the new campaign but Cairney wants Fulham to stick to the blueprint that proved so successful last term. The Scottish international described the play-off final against Aston Villa, where he scored the winning goal, the best day of his career.
Last season was a bit of a crazy season. We went on that run and we finished it with what was probably the best day of my career at Wembley. We need to bring in other players because everyone knows just how hard it is to stay in this league.
I know I’m biased but in my opinion we played the best football over the last two seasons. We played Premier League football in the Championship which is not easy to do. I hope that we turn a few heads and do ourselves justice in the way that we play. Results are the most important thing but I really want us to stick to our philosophy and take a few teams on.
