Slavisa Jokanovic was left disappointed by the early frailties of his Fulham side following the defeat to Middlesbrough on a chilly afternoon at Craven Cottage.

An early header from Albert Odomah and a penalty ten minutes later by Grant Leadbitter saw the Whites fall behind and struggle to fight back in to the game despite creating chances throughout.

“It is true that we created many chances,” Jokanovic stated. “We could have scored some goals but we showed many weaknesses in our defence.

“We gifted them with many presents. We need to be more solid with a more positive mentality in order to compete.”

Jokanovic was left particularly frustrated by the timing of the goals that were conceded by his side.

“We prepare for a very long game and we aim not to give them very many chances,” the Head coach stated. “With the first touch in our half they scored their goal.

“We then had a period with an injured player and we give away a penalty. At that stage we are down two goals.

“Then it’s not easy against a team like Middlesbrough to recover. We tried, we made chances but we did not play a particularly good game.

“We were unable to score the goal to make it difficult for them at the end and they deserve these three points.”

“They punished us right at the very beginning of the game.

A poor result was compounded by a late red card for Richard Stearman, who had been drafted back in to the side in place of the suspended Fernando Amorebieta after he too had been sent off against Leeds United during the week.

The card appeared somewhat harsh, with Stearman losing his footing and bundling Jordan Rhodes over inadvertently.

But the Head Coach was quick to point out that it was a poor match overall from his players.

“Yes it was a mistake,” Jokanovic added. “And generally this mistake didn’t give us the chance to make the last push.

“But generally we made many more mistakes today and most were made at the beginning of the game.”

“It has been from last year that we have been inconsistent,” he stated. “It is very important for us to remain positive, believe in ourselves and push very hard to do our jobs.

“We have to move forward in this way and we have an obligation to fight to the very last moment.”