Fulham Football Club News

• Nickname:Cottagers
• Founded:1879
• Manager:Martin Jol

• Ground:Craven Cottage
• Capacity:

Hodgson relief for Zamora

23 Feb 2009 - 08:15:12

Click To Enlarge

Roy Hodgson believes the pressure has been lifted off Bobby Zamora's shoulders after he found the net in Fulham's 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion.

Zamora ended a near 30-hour wait for his second Premier League goal since joining the Cottagers last summer with the opener at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

"Bobby's bound to be relieved," admitted Hodgson.

"I would prefer to judge front players on what they do for the team and not make it as simple as 'if you score eight goals you're a good one and if you score two you're a bad one'.

"If Zamora scored eight or nine this season and we were lying in the bottom three I would get no satisfaction at all.

"I'd much rather be looking at the table and having us in eighth place with him scoring two goals.

"He's kept at things well, formed a partnership with (Andy) Johnson and that's been very important for us.

"It was quite interesting that after he scored he had two more great strikes, one of which led to the second goal.

"It's pretty obvious a weight has been lifted from his mind.

"As for me, I suppose I enjoy a sense of relief too because I always believed in Zamora and Johnson and I brought them both to the club."