Fulham manager Mark Hughes has heaped praise on Andrew Johnson and Damien Duff after his Fulham side’s 2-0 win over Stoke.
The duo rolled back the years and made life extremely difficult for a shell-shocked Stoke side who continued their struggles on the road.
The Fulham boss was encouraged to see his side take the initiative and control a vital game that now lifts his team four points above the drop zone.
Hughes was happy to discuss the performances of two players who could prove to be as important as any potential new signings at Craven Cottage.
“I thought he [Johnson] was excellent again today even without the goals,” Hughes said.
“In his general play and his performances of late you can see he was getting back to the level he was before his bad injury and he just needs games now.
“Every game he plays now he’ll be stronger and faster and we’ll benefit from him.
“I was really pleased with Damien’s performance today he was really positive, going at his full-back and causing him problems all day long.
“He’ll be encouraged by that as we wanted him to isolate his full-back if he could. He created a lot of opportunities for us today.”
Despite having a less than stellar record after going in front this season, Hughes was happy to see his men play out a relatively problem-free second half that even included a rare penalty for the home side.
“We played well today I thought it was a very accomplished performance,” added Hughes.
“We scored a great opening goal and created a situation which led to a penalty. At 2-0 we were quite comfortable.
“Even before that I thought we played like a more accomplished side and deserved to win today.
“We haven’t had a penalty for quite some time so I wasn’t quite sure who was going to take it myself so I think it was one of those where Clint grabbed the ball to take it.”
