Josh King thanked the Fulham fans and his team-mates for their ‘unbelievable’ support – and believes he has shown his character by shrugging his derby day mistake to help the Whites come from behind and beat Brentford last weekend.
The teenager told FFCTV that he has been delighted to play so much Premier League football this season and is relishing the chance to try and earn another three points at Aston Villa on Sunday.
Speaking specifically about the error that presented Mikkel Damsgaard with the opening goal against the Bees, King said:
“It was a lot of growth. There was a lot of learning that night. I think the way the team responded to me making that mistake and getting around me, I think it shows the type of dressing room and the team spirit we have. Especially people like Alex [Iwobi], even people off the bench when I went into the changing room, stuff you don’t see at half time. Obviously, it is a part of football and it’s going to happen. But the way the team and the fans really responded to me, nobody was on me and that really helped me try and kick on for the rest of the performance. I ended up not having a bad day and the team got me out of it.
I can’t fault the fans ever, to be honest. The way they have always backed me up since the first day I stepped out at Craven Cottage has been unbelievable. I’m always going to be grateful for that. Having a fanbase who cares and who picks you up when you make mistakes is what you need, especially as a young player. You go through this in the academy, you might have times when it is difficult or you start a game badly and make a mistake. The way you bounce back shows the mentality and I’m someone who prides myself on bouncing back, working hard and obviously turning the scoreline [afterwards] definitely helps.”
The attacking midfielder revealed that the closeness of his bond with Emile Smith Rowe has actually inspired healthy competition between the pair for a starting spot that has helped raised his performance levels.
It’s funny … me and Emile are actually quite close, we’re good friends. Having that competition, which is friendly but pushing each other to be better, is really nice. To be honest, as an eighteen year-old playing in the Prem I’m not feeling too much pressure, just because every game is another opportunity to express myself and to show what I can do. I’m grateful to the manager for putting that faith and trust in me – having that competition pushes each other on.
King is cautiously optimistic that the Whites could win at Villa Park for the first time in 26 years, too.
They are definitely tough opposition. They are definitely going to make it dfificult for us. They’ve got a lot of good individuals who can affect the scoreline. It’ll be a tough game. I think based on the start of our season, we go into it very good confident and hopefully we can bring back another three points. It is about preparing in the same way and being really thorough and backing ourselves when the test does come.
