Scott Parker professed himself pleased with Fulham’s attitude despite having watched his side have to rely on a late Tom Cairney strike to rescue a point at Bristol City this afternoon.
The Fulham head coach felt his side completely dominated the first period with their consummate display only lacking a goal and lauded their character for responding to going a goal down in the second half.
“I felt in the first-half we were really good and created some opportunities for Bobby Decordova-Reid and Abou Kamara. I didn’t like us too much early in the second-half and certainly after that goal goes in, we showed massive character to try and get back in the game and looked like a team that wanted to go on and win it. The goalkeeper’s made a couple of very good saves and it looked like a late penalty on Cairney.
“We have nine games left, we need to keep pushing and looking forward. If you want to go and be successful, you have to hang in there. It’s not the end of the world. You get to the late stage of the season and every game we go into; we want to win.
Once the dust settles, we’ll realise that Bristol City is a tough place to come. When I think about the way we ended the game, there are positives to take. We’ll see where this point gets us.
We often talk about processes and trying to change a mentality. Over the last few months, I’ve seen that in abundance, whether it be at Swansea, Preston or today, we could’ve dropped our heads, but it wasn’t the case.”
The Fulham boss saluted the influence of captain Cairney, who delivered a trademark individual strike just when the visitors appeared to running out of steam at Ashton Gate.
“Tom Cairney was outstanding today. He was head and shoulders the best player on the pitch. He showed another side of himself. There’s no questioning his technical ability on the ball, but today he showed his all-round ability. He’s in a good place. Bobby Decordova-Reid is a player who’s always bright, influential and always in the right areas. You saw the header in the first-half and the chance in the second-half that was defended very well. He’s a first-class player, who’s adapting.
