Harrison Reed insists that there is still more for high-flying Fulham to achieve this term after his man-of-the-match performance at Southampton secured another three points for the Whites at the weekend.
Reed’s tenacity set up the first goal at St. Mary’s for Carlos Vinicius and, after Aleskandar Mitrovic scored within seven minutes of making his return from an eight-game suspension, Marco Silva’s side cruised to a comfortable victory. It was a bittersweet win for Reed, who had come through the Southampton academy, as the result confirmed bottom of the table Saints’ relegation to the Championship.
The tigerish midfielder said after the game:
“I definitely have that feeling sitting in the dressing room, and obviously on the pitch. A club that I was part of for a very long time, it’s not nice to see them go down, but I have no doubt they’ll bounce back and come back strong.”
The Worthing-born midfielder was adamant in his interviews with the broadcasters that Fulham were always ambitious and confident of proving their worth in the top flight despite being among the pundits’ favourites for the drop themselves.
“We came into the season full of confidence, from day one we knew our standards and we knew what we wanted to do. I think we’ve shown consistency throughout the season, still with a lot of things to learn and improve on, but as a changing room, inside that training ground, we knew what we’re capable of.”
He reaffirmed that Fulham are determined to both secure a top half finish and set a new club record for Premier League points.
“It [finishing in the top half] would be amazing. I think T[om Cairney] said last week that we haven’t really celebrated what we’ve done this season, with the consistency we’ve shown and the amount of points we’ve accumulated. We’ve still got our goals in-house, and we’re looking to achieve that.”
Reed also gave an insight into Mitrovic’s mindset on his return to action – and admitted that the Serbian finding the net again felt inevitable.
“You felt it as soon as Mitro stepped on the pitch. He was hungry to get on the scoresheet. His words in my ear as soon as he scored and we were walking back was, ‘Reedy, I want another one, so let’s keep going.’ Vini’s done fantastic. He had a tough season early on, having to be patient behind Mitro, but when we’ve needed him he’s really stepped up.”
