Tim Ream admitted that his Fulham team-mates were frustrated after being held to a goalless draw by bottom club Derby County at Craven Cottage last night.

The Whites were missing several first-team regulars, including Marek Rodak, Tim Ream and Tom Cairney through illness, and struggled to match their fluent recent displays as their seven-match winning run came to an end. Ream, who was outstanding again at the heart of the Fulham defence, told FFCTV after the final whistle:

“Frustrating is probably the best way to describe it. First half we were a little bit sloppy, especially in the final third. A few half chances not fall our way and in the second half we were in and around their box pretty much the entire second half. It just seemed that the half chances and the little bounces didn’t fall our way. Sometimes that happens. We’re frustrated, but at the end of the run of the fixtures it’s no change and I think we take that going into the weekend.”

Ream didn’t use the absence of the likes of Mitrovic and Cairney as an excuse for why the Whites were unable to break down a resolute Derby defence.

“We work so much together within the squad every single day. We understand everyone’s strengths and it’s not really an issue. It is more of a surprise when you first come to the training ground and you see who’s not there. Everyone was prepared. Guys need to step up.”

The American international is now focused on returning to winning ways at Preston on Saturday – although he recognises that coming away from Deepdale with three points won’t be an easy task.

“We’ll regroup, look at a few things and we know what Preston do. It’s always a tough one up there. We’ll recover, look at their strengths and we know it is going to be a tough game because they got a good result last night.”