Fulham FC

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• Founded:1879
• Manager:Mark Hughes

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Roy content with small squad

05 Sep 2008 - 13:46:50

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Fulham boss Roy Hodgson believes his wheeling and dealing in the transfer market during the summer has left him with a stronger and more balanced squad.

The Cottagers boss has allowed 27 players to leave Craven Cottage, either permanently or on loan, since he joined the club just over eight months ago.

He told the club's official website: "We've changed the squad around and we've got a small squad now, a squad that we really believe in and is well-balanced.

"When I came here we really had far too many players and lots of them just trebling or quadrupling up for positions, never getting a game and obviously costing the club a lot of money, but not playing any football.

"But now, with a squad of only 23 players, of which three are goalkeepers, it will give the younger players, like Robert Milsom and Wayne Brown, a chance to push forward and show what they can do in the first-team squad.

"It'll give the players on the fringes a greater chance of playing and, although the squad is at the limit in terms of size, at least it's full of the right type of players that we want to be at the club.

"We've only actually brought in, I think, 11 in this transfer window, added to the four that we bought in January, so we're 12 players down from when I started."