Sticking with the European theme and Toni Kallio says there’s no reason why Fulham can’t do well in the Europa League this season
Hopefully we can take the momentum from the end of last season into the new one. We’re confident that we can do well, but we have to be well prepared because there are some difficult teams in the competition
But I think it’s a very positive experience for the Club, because every team enjoys playing in Europe – it’s an exciting opportunity and something we should be aiming for. It will be a nice way to start the new season, and hopefully we can have an even better year ahead
In a wide-ranging interview with the offal, the Finnish defender praised the character shown by the players to grind out the crucial results that carried Fulham to their highest-ever league finish of seventh place last season.
Those results, plus the draw at the Emirates not only show how far this team has come but shows that this is a team not to be taken lightly. Perhaps in the past the top teams had expected to take points against Fulham, but last season we changed that. We beat some very good teams, and also went away and held the likes of Liverpool and Villa.
With a couple of minutes left at home to Chelsea we were 2-1 down and then Clint popped up and scored a late equaliser. All these games show just how much character we have to react to the situation.
We’ve seen very little of Kallio since he arrived at the club in the early weeks of Roy Hodgson’s tenure, but the versatile defender is happy to have played his part despite having only made six appearances for the first team last season.
I still think that I played my part and made sure that I was ready whenever I was needed. But the team played so well it made it difficult for players like myself to force their way into the starting eleven.
It was a very enjoyable season and qualification for Europe was a nice way for it to end. If we are successful in the early stages, then there will be a lot of football to be played and that will be my chance. I’m sure that the players that haven’t been involved so much will come in and do well.
It’s a refeshing attitude in the modern game, especially where players frequently complain about a lack of first-team football.
