Slavisa Jokanovic praised his ‘really solid’ Fulham defence after a second successive home clean sheet secured three points against struggling Birmingham City at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
The Whites went in front just before the quarter of an hour mark when Sheyi Ojo finished a fine cross from Neeskens Kebano and had to rely on their new-found resolve to repel sustained periods of Blues pressure in the second half. Birmingham also missed a penalty given away by Kevin McDonald, but Jokanovic was keen to accentuate the positive.
He told his post-match press conference:
We must be positive. We have won two games at home, with two clean sheets – it’s a new experience for us. We were really solid at the back, and limited their chances. I believe they only had one attempt on target.
The Fulham head coach elaborated on his decision to stick with a similar system as the one that he employed at Griffin Park last weekend – and felt this was much more successful.
We tried a different shape and tried to find our style. We dominated the game and created enough chances to score more today. I believe we can still play better, just so we we’re not in trouble in the end of the game. The only solution I know is to be more clinical and score more goals. We need to show more quality in this situation.
We tried to find a way to control the game by playing more midfielders, with Stefan Johansen on top of the diamond. We don’t have players at the moment, who can play in the gaps, like Floyd Ayité and Lucas Piazon, so we tried a new way without losing our style.
Jokanovic is keen to remind his players that Fulham can’t afford the sought of silly defensive lapses that almost allowed the Blues back into the game.
One mistake and you can pay an expensive price. The only solution is to be more clinical and try a find a way to score a goal. My team tried to score a second goal and created chances. In the end, we got a little lucky that they missed the penalty.
