Ola Aina has urged Fulham to build on the momentum they generated with a win at Everton on Sunday by stringing together victories to strengthen their survival hopes.
Scott Parker’s side stole the headlines with a convincing victory at Goodison Park – Fulham’s first win on the blue half of Merseyside in the league – and now face relegation rivals Burnley, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace in quick succession. Aina knows that turning strong performances into a set of successive positive results will have a huge difference on the Premier League table.
The versatile Nigerian international defender told Fulham’s official website:
“That’s our only goal right now I think, as a group. We know we can play well, we can defend well, but we need to keep winning games. That’s our ultimate goal, and I think we can do it. We back ourselves in every game. That’s the confidence that everyone has in each other in and around the team.”
“But I do think the Everton result has given us a massive lift, and I feel like we can take that momentum through into this game and come away with three points. It’s definitely going to be a difficult one [at Burnley]. The style of football that they play is often very difficult for teams to go up against. But we’re up for the challenge, and hopefully we can leave there with three points.”
Aina slotted in impressively at left back against the Toffees, laying on the first goal for Josh Maja after linking up beautifully with Ademola Lookman. The 24 year-old says he’s eager to play wherever Parker needs to for the remainder of the season.
“I played all of last season at left wing-back, so it’s a position that I’m familiar with. Whatever the team needs, if I can step in somewhere and fill a position, then that’s something that I’m happy to do. I’d like to add more assists and maybe a few more goals, so it was good to get up and running and finally get an assist this season.”
He was delighted to see Maja, his international team-mate, mark his first Fulham start in such devastating fashion.
“I was looking for Josh, I was looking for that ball into him, so I’m really happy it came off. I’ve known Josh for a bit now and I’m just happy that I could contribute to his first Prem goal. It was a really good moment for him and for the team. I think that will help his confidence, and will properly settle him into the side, and hopefully he just pushes on from here and does what he needs to do for the team.”
