Jol backs Fulham to return to form

09 December 2012 14:17

Martin Jol admits Fulham are in dire need of a goal to kick-start their season after going almost five hours without scoring.

After starting the season brightly despite a number of high-profile departures, the Cottagers' lack of squad depth has been brought into sharp focus. The 1-0 defeat of Aston Villa in mid-October was the west Londoners' last victory, meaning they face Newcastle on Monday without a win in seven attempts.

"We have to pick up ourselves and pick up some points," said Jol.

"I don't think it was a big problem before the Sunderland game (where Fulham lost 3-1) so for us failure and success is an unbelievably thin line," the Dutchman added.

"We had a loss after that against Stoke, then we had a draw at Chelsea and lost against Spurs so everything happened in two weeks. Even in the first half against Spurs we had three or four chances - more chance than they had, more attempts on goal.

"Against Sunderland, for example, before Brede Hangeland's red card, I thought we were the better team. That was probably the biggest disappointment because those three points would have given us 20 points.

"It all started on that day and we got injuries to Bryan Ruiz and Alex Kacaniklic so after that we had to change things and I feel we are good enough to come up with a solution."

Jol can welcome Hangeland and Kacaniklic back from suspension and injury respectively, although Ruiz remains sidelined after suffering setback in his recovery from a hamstring complaint.

Veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer is set to start again despite some questioning his display in the 3-0 defeat to Tottenham, where he was at fault for Sandro's opener.

"It is always the same," Jol said. "Three weeks ago we were all very happy at Fulham and two weeks later the situation totally changes. It is the same with goalkeepers. You make one mistake and everyone will doubt your quality and talk about it, but he is strong enough. He is a very good goalkeeper. He saved a lot of points for us so he will be back."

Source: PA