PARKER HAILS HIS BRAVE COTTAGERS
SCOTT Parker believes Fulham have proved they have the character to stay in the promotion mix after their ten men left Middlesbrough with a point.
The Cottagers boss was delighted with the way his side climbed up to fifth with the goalless draw, having successfully held struggling Boro despite playing 73 minutes with a man short.
Fulham goalkeeper Marek Rodak was sent off by referee Peter Bankes in the 17th minute for deliberate handball when he came rushing out of his area to stop Jonny Howson from going through.
But Fulham, who could have won the game had Aleksandar Mitrovic turned a second-half header in, battled away to keep Boro at bay and send their hosts into the relegation zone.
“It’s probably the proudest I have been of my team since sitting in this position,” said Parker. “I have been in this job for six months and when you look at this division, we top most of the stats, but what a number can’t measure about the players is the desire, passion and effort, and a mentality about them which is going to define us.
“This is a massive moment for us, it feels like a massive moment for me. Part of me is disappointed because I felt in control, but we limited them to very few chances. I think their first effort on target was in the last attack of the game. The players need to know how big a moment this is.
“Marek said it hit the top of his shoulder. I have not seen it again. It would be unfair of me to comment. We will appeal if we need to appeal.
“That was the turning point. With 11 men we were very good. We had to show a different side to us. We also had that threat, we looked like we could cause them a few problems.”
While Fulham look upwards, Middlesbrough have a fight on their hands. Lewis Wing hit a post with a free-kick from 25 yards and Paddy McNair rolled an effort straight at sub keeper Marcus Bettinelli in stoppage-time, but otherwise the hosts were toothless. And Mitrovic, fresh from his hat-trick against Luton in midweek, should have won it for Fulham, but he headed over from eight yards when he climbed to meet Joe Bryan’s cross.
“I’d have preferred it to be 11 versus 11, I know that sounds strange,” said Boro manager Jonathan Woodgate.
“That’s because we had the gameplan set out for how we wanted to play and I thought we executed that well.
“We had chances before he (Rodak) was sent off and, once he was off, especially after half-time, we sat back and didn’t have the creativity in the team to break it down.
“I wanted them to move the ball quickly through the pitch and they were taking time with their passing, they weren’t moving it the way I wanted them, from side-to-side quickly and getting balls into the box, that didn’t happen. We lacked a creative edge to break them down. From what I saw, I haven’t seen the replay, was it a red? I wished he’d stayed on.
“Before the game, would you have taken a point against Fulham? Probably. But it is an opportunity missed because they went down to 10 men. We’ve got to capitalise on that.”