Source: Daily_Mail
Fulham winger Damien Duff targets Euro glory after World Cup heartache
Fulham winger Damien Duff says winning the Europa League with Fulham would make up for his World Cup heartache with Ireland.[LNB] Ireland were cheated out of a place in South Africa when Thierry Henry's handball gifted William Gallas an injury-time equaliser for France in the second leg of their play-off. But a major trophy with with Fulham would make up for it.[LNB] Target: Damien Duff[LNB] Roy Hodgson's side go into tonight's quarter-final second leg against VfL Wolfsburg as slight favourites after last Thursday's 2-1 win at Craven Cottage.[LNB] Duff said: 'In a way it is a distant memory, that night in Paris in November.[LNB] 'It will probably open old wounds in the summer when I'm watching the World Cup on TV, but I haven't really had any time to think about the disappointment of not getting there.[LNB] 'Fulham have played so many games since then and seem to be getting bigger and bigger. To get to a final and win would be just unbelievable.[LNB] 'When we started out in the summer, nobody would ever have thought it - so bring it on.'[LNB] Duff has enjoyed quite a renaissance this season under Hodgson, the first manager he had in English football, aged 17 at Blackburn Rovers.[LNB] By the time Duff, now 31, joined Fulham from Newcastle last summer, a career that had made him a £17million capture for Chelsea in 2003 was seriously on the wane.[LNB] Duff said: 'It's well-documented that my three years at Newcastle didn't work out, so it was a massive move for me, coming to Fulham to get my career going again.[LNB] 'Working with the manager has sparked me again - I've loved every minute of it and it's been really enjoyable.[LNB] 'It's just what I needed after my three years at Newcastle. 'It's been a great season but there are still seven games left so we need to keep on going and get positive results.'[LNB] Manager Hodgson added: 'In any cup competition you want to go all the way if you can. I don't need to persuade my team that a quarter-final's only a quarter-final and we need to get to the final. They know that themselves.'[LNB] Right back Stephen Kelly returns to the squad and Bobby Zamora will start after missing Fulham's last match against Wigan with a slight achilles tendon injury.[LNB] But Clint Dempsey will miss out after straining a leg muscle in Sunday's win. The USA forward did not travel to Germany yesterday and will not recover in time for Sunday's trip to Liverpool.[LNB] David Elm, who was hospitalised after his substitution at half time last Sunday, also misses out. The Swedish striker will have more tests today after he failed to recover from a virus contracted during Fulham's trip to Turin last month. [LNB] Fulham can rest who they like! West Ham complaint dismissed by HughesESPN win race for Premier League mobile highlights rights[LNB] [LNB]
