Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has defended his team’s poor away record in the Premier League this season and denied they are negative.
Hodgson’s men have scored only once away from Craven Cottage and have not yet won – although they held Liverpool to a goalless draw at Anfield last weekend.
They face a trip to Aston Villa on Saturday and Hodgson insists he will employ the same tactics home or away, saying: “”We don’t play differently (away from home). The victories we’ve had at home and the way we’ve tried to play, they’re not different from the way we’ve tried to play at West Brom, at Blackburn or at Liverpool.”
He added: “Of course, sometimes the opposition can make life more difficult for you and make chances harder to come by, but if you’re talking about our ambition, our philosophy, our desire, it doesn’t change.”
Five wins at home have kept Fulham in the top half of the table, and Hodgson insists is not bothered by people who say his side lack ambition.
“People have the perceptions they want,” he said. “I don’t think the fans who come to watch us every week perceive us as negative.
“People base their perception on results and what they read perhaps. Things like this, which are totally out of your control, you just have to accept it.”
Summer signings Andrew Johnson and Bobby Zamora have not had as much impact as some fans would have hoped, scoring only five times between them this campaign, but Hodgson believes it is only a matter of time before the goals start to flow.
“I think all the players, in particular the front players, are creating chances,” he added.
“We’re trying to get behind the opposition and cause problems and we must continue to do that and hope the ball falls kindly and we put it in the back of the net.”
