Fulham manager Mark Hughes believes his side are close to securing another season in the Premier League as they look to distance themselves from the relegation zone.
The Cottagers, who, despite being as high as 12th in the current league table, are only three points clear of the relegation zone.
Hughes’ side however, have pulled a string of decent results together of late, winning four of their last five games at home, and the boss is confident they are almost safe.
“We’re very close to where we think we should be,” he said according to The Mirror.
“We want to maximise our home games and that should get us to the target we thought we’d reach.
“Up until our defeat by Everton last time out we’d been on a great run and that loss maybe made us take a step back.
“But we’re still playing well and are on the back of a decent run of results and performances – the first half against Everton is the only exception to that.
“We’re happy that we’re playing well and producing positive performances, which is what you need at this time of year.
“If you’re struggling for form and points, then it becomes a case of looking over your shoulder and then at the fixture list to see where your next points are coming from.
“We don’t feel like that, we feel like we’re playing well enough to pick up a good portion of the points we have left to play for.
“We’re 12th in a very congested area of the table. We still have to get the job done, but we’re playing well.”
In recent years, it has been deemed that 40 points is sufficient to avoid relegation, but Hughes doubts whether this will be the case this season.
“It’s difficult to call what points total will be enough,” he said.
“You can look at trends and previous years and there have been very few times when 40-plus points have been needed.
“Maybe this year will be one of those, but there have been so many unexpected results with top teams not getting maximum points when you suspect they will.
“Then teams at the bottom gain points when previously you thought they had no chance of doing so.
“It’s been that kind of season from the start and that’s not going to change now.
“There will still be twists and turns and results that surprise us.”
