Roy Hodgson has demanded his Fulham side stick to their passing principles, despite drawing another blank in front of goal at the weekend.
Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Stoke was the Cottagers third goalless stalemate in succession on the road, and meant the Londoners have scored just two goals on their travels this campaign.
But, despite a tally of just 13 goals in their 16 Premier League games, Hodgson sees no reason for alarm.
He said: “It is a poor statistic, but the people who watch us know we are playing well.
“We try to play our way into positions.
“We could easily improve our shot statistics by shooting from 25 yards, but we are not that type of side.
“We are threading balls through, sometimes inches from being the perfect pass, and I want us to continue doing that.”
The draw at the Britannia Stadium stretched Fulham’s unbeaten run to six games, and kept the Cottagers firmly lodged in mid-table.
But the Londoners were furious after being denied a penalty when Danny Higginbotham appeared to handle the ball when attempting to head clear.
Hodgson added: “We can certainly feel aggrieved.
“There is no doubt it is his hand that hits the ball.
“But we carved out enough opportunities ourselves to finish them off so we should not be overly critical.
“The quality of our play through the midfield was so good I was expecting us to go on and score.
“So although I was very happy with the performance I feel we left two points behind.”
Fulham will get the chance to continue their good form at home, which has seen just one defeat at Craven Cottage this season, when Middlesbrough visit on Saturday, where a win could take Hodgson’s men to the heights of 8th in the league.
