Felix Magath says the difficulty of the Fulham job has not surprised him and he is ‘convinced’ he will keep the club in the Premier League.
Fulham go into Sunday’s game against Everton at Craven Cottage bottom of the table with a margin of four points between them and safety.
It is the first of four home games for Fulham that could go a long way to establishing their top-flight survival, with Norwich, Hull City and Crystal Palace still due to visit the Cottage.
Despite the dire situation, Magath – who replaced Rene Meulensteen on February 14 – is confident the west London club will stay up.
“This job is not tougher than I expected it to be,” he said. “I knew that it would be a difficult job and it is.
“But I don’t worry about that, I’m happy to be here. I’m looking forward and I’m convinced we’ll stay in the league.
“I’m not looking at next season because we have to realise that we may not be staying in the Premier League, but I’m convinced that we will.
“I’m sure I will still be here, wherever the club is. I’m happy here and want to stay.”
Magath feels the game against Everton will be the most difficult home match his team have left to play and knows they must take maximum points from it.
The Toffees are chasing a Champions League place and head to Craven Cottage on the back of four straight wins.
“It depends how it goes but we have to win because we are a few points adrift,” he said. “We need more points than the other teams at the bottom.
“Everton are in good shape, we’ve seen their result at Newcastle (winning 3-0). It will be our most difficult game here at Craven Cottage.
“I don’t think about the other teams because we know we have to win games, otherwise we have no chance of staying in the league.
“We have to win because we are a few points adrift, so we need more points than the other teams at the bottom.”
Fulham continue to be without £12m striker Kostas Mitroglou, who has yet to recover from a knee injury.
Mitroglou has made only two appearances for the Cottagers since his deadline-day signing in January, but Magath hopes he will return soon.
“Kostas is not happy about being injured, but it’s a normal thing for a football player. They get injuries,” he said.
“We will see if he can join us in training next week. If there is a risk we will wait longer.”
