Matt Targett is excited by Saturday’s visit of promotion contenders Aston Villa to Craven Cottage and believes Fulham could send out ‘a massive statement’ by ending the Villains winning streak.
Steve Bruce’s side have won all of their last seven league matches – including Sunday’s derby against Birmingham City which saw them move above Derby County into second place – and Targett knows that Villa will represent one of the toughest tests of the season this weekend. He told Fulham’s official website:
It would be a massive statement. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do with them, they’re seven points ahead of us, so I think it is a more important game for us than it is for them, and we need to win it.
I think if you look at their squad, it’s a Premier League squad on paper, so it will be good to test ourselves against that. It’s a massive game. We’re both in great form, so it should be good game and hopefully we can get the three points.
Targett was disappointed that the Whites’ own winning run came to end with a draw at Bolton last weekend – a game he felt Fulham should have won.
Yeah, I think so. We had a lot of good chances to go 2-0 up and kill the game, but as long as it says 1-0, Bolton are always going to have the chance of getting back into it. On another day we would have won that game 4-0 or 4-1, but at least we’re getting into the positions and creating those chances.
The on-loan Southampton left headed home his first senior goal to put Slavisa Jokanovic’s side ahead but Targett’s joy was tempered by Fulham’s failure to take all three points back to London.
It was nice to score my first professional goal. I wanted to play a one-two with Sess, but he decided to cross! So I thought why not get myself in there at the back post as the gaffer likes his full backs to be attacking, very high and Lucas did great to win the header and put it back across to me. I’m really happy to score, but obviously disappointed we didn’t get the three points.
