Roy Hodgson reckons his Fulham side have finally earned the respect of their Premier League rivals after their encouraging start to the season.

Saturday’s entertaining 1-1 draw with visitors Manchester City took the Cottagers’ unbeaten run to five games, and maintained their position in the top half of the table.

And Hodgson insisted the attitude of Mark Hughes’ men spoke volumes for the strides the London club are making.

Hodgson said: “A year ago teams like Man City would come here thinking they were going to beat us quite easily.

“But now teams are affording us the respect of being satisfied by leaving with a point.

“We are proving very hard to beat and we are showing we have good footballers here as well.

“But everyone is aware of just how close this league is so you can never be truly satisfied.”