Fulham boss Chris Coleman spoke of his delight to be back in the dugout again after watching his side grind out a vital win over Leeds United at Loftus Road this afternoon.
The Fulham manager, who had been battling a septicaemia infection in hospital for the past fortnight, was forced to listen to the FA Cup quarter final defeat by Manchester United on the radio and, although he was disgruntled with his team’s finishing today, nothing was quite as frustrating as that. Fulham eventually heaped more misery on relegation-threatened Leeds as Sean Davis and Luis Boa Morte settled a nervy encounter in the final twenty minutes.
Coleman told his post-match press conference:
“I feel great now. I can’t have beer to celebrate though as I’m on strong antibiotics to fight my infection. Seriously though, I’m not 100% yet but I’m sure I’ll be back to normal in two or three weeks. I go back to see the surgeon on Monday to check everything’s ticking over nicely.
“There have been a lot of rumours about me being on my death bed. But it wasn’t as serious as people said – I was never in intensive care and just had a bad infection. The best I’ve felt for two weeks was at 3pm today, when the adrenalin was pumping. The doctors said I had to stay relaxed but I couldn’t do it. I explained to them it’d be impossible for that to happen.
The Fulham boss was delighted with his team’s fortitude that saw them through to a first league victory in five games.
“We showed a lot more desire today and a lot of commitment. We made a couple of chances in the first half and a lot in second. I thought it was only a matter of time until we scored.”
