Harrison Reed is relishing his role in Marco Silva’s adventurous Fulham side and is confident of bouncing back to the top flight at the first attempt.
The combative midfielder has played in a more advanced role for much of this season, but Reed told the Daily Telegraph that he’s always aware of his role in helping Fulham’s free-scoring forwards fire.
“It’s something that I’ve always thought about when I play. It is giving a foundation to build from. We are scoring goals and doing amazing things attacking-wise but it is also important to nail down the fundamentals of the game. That gives a platform for the team to play the free-flowing stuff.
Sometimes it is the two goals you concede that the manager is speaking about. It’s a message that it is not going to be five or six goals every week and there are times when conceding one goal will cost three points. The message is building the foundation to then go on. It keeps us on our toes. And those wins, the 1-0s, are just as satisfying as the 6-2s or 7-0s.”
Reed reaffirms that Fulham are completing focused on winning automatic promotion – in contrast to the club’s last two promotions to the Premier League that came via the play-offs – and embracing their position as leaders of the pack.
“The pressure is still on us to get promotion. Anything less is not success. We’re getting hunted down but it is up to us to enjoy that pressure because it is where we want to be. Many of the players have been there and done it in the Championship, plus fresh players who are hungry as well. This time around automatics is the demands we have set, even if winning in front of 90,000 wouldn’t be too bad.”
