Mark Hughes has challenged Bobby Zamora to ‘build’ on last season’s fine form

Mark Hughes hasn’t needed long at Fulham to recognise Bobby Zamora’s quality. The new Craven Cottage boss heaped praise on his in-form striker, who celebrated his call-up to the England squad for Wednesday’s friendly against Hungary with a goal against Werder Bremen this afternoon.

We’re delighted for Bobby. What Bobby’s got to do is build on last year. If he has a similar season this year, we will benefit and obviously England will benefit.

You can see the qualities he has – I thought he was excellent today. He’s a good player and he needs to kick on and be one of the main players in the Premier League. If he has an opportunity and gets the shirt it’s all about grasping that opportunity and not allowing the progress that he’s made to waver and wane
I like the way Hughes praises Zamora here, but simultaneously (yet subtly) sets him a target. It will interesting to see how Bobby develops under the new manager, especially as – the more and more you think about it – they were actually very similar players.