Fulham manager Chris Coleman claims there will be no more looking down if his side beat Aston Villa at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

Coleman’s side are nine points clear of the drop zone in 14th place. But he knows a run of bad results could still land them in a relegation battle, so he is determined to show 18th-placed Charlton a clean pair of heels with victory on Saturday.

He said: “If we win, and West Ham and Charlton get anything other than three points, I think we can stop looking down. But if we don’t beat Villa, that gap could fall to six or seven points.

“We’ve been down there before and if we start losing confidence and points, it’s possible we could be sucked back into a relegation battle.”

Coleman admitted it took his team a few days to regain their focus after Cristiano Ronaldo’s late strike consigned them to a 2-1 defeat against Manchester United last Saturday.

He said: “Clearly, it would be unforgivable to produce a great performance against United and then lose to a team who are on the same points as us.

“If the lads put any less enthusiasm into this game than they did last Saturday, Villa will punish us.”