Fulham head coach Scott Parker has warned his side to learn the lessons from their November defeat at the hands of Hull City when they go to the KC Stadium this weekend.
The Tigers counter-attacked ruthlessly at Craven Cottage earlier in the season and fully merited their outstanding 3-0 victory, with Jarrod Bowen to the fore. Parker wants his team to be alive to the specific threat that Hull pose as they look to get their promotion push back on track following a home defeat at the hands of Reading last time out.
“The facts are we didn’t deal with transitions in the game, the counter attacks they had. I think they probably are the best team in the division when it comes to counter attacks. They sit off it and wait for mistakes and they go and punish you.
“They’ve got players in their team, especially up front in Bowen, Grosicki, who can cause you big damage, and that’s what they did to us. We controlled the game and you look at the numbers on paper after and wonder how it ended the way it has. But the fact is that we didn’t deal with it well enough. We’ll face that same problem at the weekend. They’re a good side with good quality, so we need to be fully aware of that.”
Parker is particularly wary of skilful winger Bowen, who has scored in all three of his outings against Fulham.
“He did it last year and he’s backed it up again this year. He scores goals, they play in a way that suits him. He’s a very, very good football player who’s very dangerous, especially in this division. We need to be fully aware of his qualities.”
The Fulham boss revealed that midfielder Harrison Reed will definitely miss the trip to Humberside.
“There’s an issue with Harrison Reed who’s struggling a little bit – he won’t make the game at the weekend. We’ve got some little niggles along the way as well which we need to try and manage and see where we are with them. We’re coming out of a busy period where injuries have taken their toll a little bit in a stressful period, so we need to try and get as many of them as we can fit.”
