Slavisa Jokanovic professed himself pleased with how Fulham overcome a difficult start to claim a point against Watford at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
The Whites recovered from conceding a goal inside the first two minutes with Aleksandar Mitrovic’s second half strike earning the home side a deserved draw.
“We started really sloppy and soft, and gave them so much space to do damage,” Jokanovic said in his post-match press conference. We encouraged ourselves and in the second half we showed we can move the football, showed attitude and showed character.
“In the end, we must be satisfied with a point today, and push forward, be brave and improve.
“There’s a huge gap for improvement. We must be available to work hard and improve. To start the game the way we started today, or how we started against [Manchester] City, it’s not easy to survive this situation.
“We must be focused, concentrate – this is the Premier League, the most competitive league in the world. These mistakes and sloppy starts can make it complicated to fix.
“We must be available to work. We must be available to step up. I need my players to be brave and confident.
“We must be satisfied with one point, but I’m not completely satisfied with our 90 minutes. The satisfaction comes from the second-half. There’s space for improvement, as the gap is huge.
“It’s my sixth game with 12 new players. Today’s situation is better than yesterday, and tomorrow will be better than today. We are in some kind of process and the players are gelling.”
Jokanovic heaped praise on goalscorer Mitrovic, who continues to prove that he can score goals at the highest level.
“He’s great, he played well. It wasn’t easy for him, fighting against two Watford centre-backs, [but] he’s strong. He didn’t find the space for many chances, but in the end he had two chances and scored one and hit the crossbar. He did his job and we’re satisfied with his level. He’s a brave man and I know he’s never really satisfied.”
