Fulham boss wants team to play ugly

The Cottagers managed a 1-1 draw at West Ham on Saturday, despite Clint Dempsey’s sending the away team in the lead.

“We overplayed to our cost unfortunately,” he said.

“We are a good side and we want to play a certain way but maybe away from home that attitude and that philosophy has to be tempered a little bit and you have to know when it’s right to clear your lines, regroup and get a view of what’s going on.

“After the break they changed the shape a bit. At that stage you maybe have to be a bit cold minded and realise that maybe it’s not the time to play football and you have to clear your lines instead and get an understanding of what changes the opposition have made but we just continued to play in the same way, which is to our credit.”

“It’s only a matter of time given the quality that we have got before we turn the draws into victories,” the former Blackburn boss added.

“I have a good group of players. I have a lot of technical players that, certainly away from home, maybe bear the scars of not having won enough times on the road.

“We have to overcome that and we are conscious of it but I’m not scared by it or feeling bogged down by it.”