Fulham goalkeeper Mark Crossley has warned Chelsea a “nasty” Boxing Day awaits at Stamford Bridge.
The west London rivals clash at Chelsea’s fortress with Crossley stressing the need to shut the Barclays Premiership champions down at every available opportunity.
“We know it’ll be difficult at Stamford Bridge but we’ll give it our best shot,” he said.
“We’ll try to make it difficult for them, get men behind the ball and try to stop them passing the ball around.
“They have got millions of pounds worth of talent – great players and passers of the ball with great movement.
“So we’ll have to make it a horrible, nasty game and make it difficult for them to break us down.
“If you go there and leave yourself wide open, you’re asking for trouble.”
Crossley believes a strong performance from Luis Boa Morte will be required if Fulham are to triumph at Stamford Bridge and hailed the leadership qualities of the club captain.
“We could have a couple of players missing. But Boa should be available and he’ll be very influential”
“He sometimes mistimes tackles and gets himself into trouble but he’s very passionate about Fulham and that shows. He is a great leader.
“He was exceptional last season and he has carried it on this season. Some people say Luis isn’t a leader but believe me, he is. He’s a great captain.”
Crossley admits that while Fulham have regularly found the back of the net this season, they must shore up their leaky defence.
“We’ve got the entertainment factor but we need to be more resilient. We’ve kept four clean sheets all season and that’s not enough,” he said.
“When we go 2-0 up, we need to win 2-0. When you look at the last four games we really should have had four clean sheets on the trot.”
