Chris Baird spoke of his delight as Fulham qualified for the last sixteen of the Europa League with a stubborn defensive display in Shakhtar Donetsk.
The former Southampton defender, impressive again in the right back position that had given him so many problems when he first arrived at Craven Cottage, hailed the organisation of the side and revealed that Fulham always thought they had a chance of making an impact at set pieces.
It was a good performance and a good result. Obviously after the first game we knew that we had something to fight for and we certainly did that. We’re always a threat from set-pieces and we knew that if we could get some, take our time and do it properly then we’d have a chance.
Thankfully Brede got on the end of one and it went in for us. From there on they had all of the possession and a few good chances but we held out and thoroughly deserved it.
We’re just thrilled to get through this one, we knew it was going to be a tough game – they’re the holders and are a very good side. With the quality of players they’ve got in the side, they won it last year, we knew what to expect but I think all of our players gave everything they had. We definitely deserved the result and we’re looking ahead to the next round.
It shows how far the Club’s come, certainly since I’ve been here. We were fighting relegation in the first year; to finished seventh to get into this cup the next year was absolutely fantastic. Now that we’re safe in the league, in the Quarter-Final of the FA Cup and in the last 16 in the Europa League – it shows what a good side we really are. We don’t want it to end, we want to keep going and see how far we can go.
