Scott Parker was pleased that Fulham’s push for automatic promotion from the Championship will go to the final day after an absorbing eight-goal thriller against Sheffield Wednesday.

The Fulham boss was pleased with his side’s attacking interplay that saw them build a commanding lead but was worried by some slapdash defending that put their commanding position under some question by the end.

Parker told his post-match press conference at Craven Cottage:

“Results wise, it was key for us today, we understood that, we knew what was at stake. There’s two scenarios and we saw the West Brom and the Brentford results and we needed to keep our hopes alive. There’s been some upsets along the way for everyone. My team had pressure on them today, but we’ve had pressure on us throughout the year.

“There are different pressures that have been asserted, coming from me and from the outside. That’s 23 wins for us in this division, we take this into the last game. We go to play an in-form Wigan team and we’ll look to get another result and see where we end up. If it doesn’t take us to where we want to be, we’ll try and finish it off later.”

“For 45 minutes I thought we looked like a top team. Everything we had discussed was excellent. Some elements were perfect. Second half they knocked balls into us, and I was a bit disappointed that we conceded the goals we conceded. Having said that, five goals is the most important thing and the three points keeping the pressure on.”

Parker hailed the contribution of winger Neeskens Kebano.

“It was brilliant for Neeskens with Ivan Cavaleiro out injured. People have had to stand up. We had three positive COVID tests at the start of lockdown and Mitro suspended for three games, we’ve had to fix things. Neeskens was a prime example of that today. He deserved that; he was very good.”

The Fulham saluted his side’s resilience in keeping their automatic promotion hopes alive.

“We had two negative results coming out of lockdown in Leeds and Brentford, but since then my team have been very good at grinding out results. There are times we’ve been 10 to 13 points adrift. We’ve had to fight and battle with pressure that comes with that and the outside voices. We’ve not got the credit we deserve at times. To take this season, and the teams above us, like Brentford and West Brom who are fantastic teams to the wire is fantastic. We’re two points off them.”

“Winning games in this division is no easy feat. Along the way we’ve managed to pull out results and I’ve seen another side of us. Momentum is with us and this league throws up surprises. The other teams have had negative results, but it remains out of our hands. Our focus has been to worry about ourselves. If the season ends on Wednesday. Amazing. If not, we’ll be ready for another three games.”