Ola Aina admitted he was disappointed that Fulham couldn’t hold onto the lead he gave them and claim a precious three points at Burnley last night – but he has urged his team-mates to remain positive as the Whites battle against the drop.
The Nigerian defender scored his second goal of the season to give Fulham the lead at Turf Moor last night, but Scott Parker’s side relinquished that advantage within three minutes when Ashley Barnes equalised. Aina told FFCTV after the final whistle that a draw was better than nothing after the visitors failed to push for a winner:
“I know myself and everyone else is a bit disappointed. We thought we could come here and win, and there were moments in the game where I thought we were actually in the ascendancy. It was just a tough game but it’s good we didn’t lose and we come away with a point.”
Aina was good humoured about the fortune that led to his goal, which he chested in after Joachim Andersen had helped on Ademola Lookman’s corner at the near post:
“It’s come off the six-pack. Joa flicked it on and it actually came so fast, I just six-packed it in.”
The 24 year-old feels that the victories Fulham need to close the gap on seventeenth-placed Newcastle are just around the corner given the standard of recent performances.
“We have to keep the belief there, keep the stamina that we’ve been showing in the past couple of months and just keep plugging away. It will give way, we’ve just got to stay positive. We just have to pull through this as a team because we know what our end goal is and we know what we want.”
All is not lost as Aina says but very frustrating watching the game, there will never be a better chance to beat Burnley at Turf Moor and the timing would have been perfect. With Ben Mee missing and only really Ashley couldn’t hit a Barnes door upfront ( although to be fair he did actually score despite a horrific first touch), it seemed all set up for unlikely back to back away wins. Sadly no movement upfront, lots of misplaced passes and sideways and backwards ones too. Harry Reed was good again but some of the others who had shon against Everton struggled, although there was no lack of effort I thought there was a lack of ideas and class on show. Another BIG game on Saturday, it really is a must win. Hopefully Aina scores one off his backside and we see the game out this time COYW
Burnley fan here. You’re going down.Play attractive football , but defensively weak .The centre half Adarabioyo is a liability You were fortunate to get a point at Turf Moor.