Hodgson targets top-10 finish

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson continues to focus on a top-10 finish despite the upcoming Europa League final against Atletico Madrid. The Cottagers head to Hamburg for the showpeice on May 12 but Hodgson wants a high finish in the Premier League before then.Fulham defeated West Ham 3-2 at Craven Cottage on Sunday with a strike from Clint Dempsey, an own goal from Carlton Cole and a third from substitute Stefano Okaka.West Ham pulled goals back through Cole and substitute Guillermo Franco but they were always second best.Fulham now face Stoke at home on Wednesday night before finishing the league campaign with a trip to Arsenal next Sunday.And Hodgson is asking his players to go one extra mile in a season that has confounded the critics and made Hodgson a wanted man."Although it is difficult in the immediate aftermath of the semi-final against Hamburg to think of anything else but the meeting with Atletico Madrid that lies ahead, we must complete our domestic season," said Hodgson."It is still a very real objective to finish in the top 10 and I believe it is healthy to retain this target."The remaining matches will play an important part in our mental and physical preparation for the final, so to maintain a winning mentality throughout would certainly be of benefit."Striker Bobby Zamora, so much a talisman on their Europa League adventure, missed the game against his old club with an Achilles injury and could even miss out on the final against Madrid."The medical team will need to work hard with him to ensure his fitness for the final," admitted Hodgson.Meanwhile captain Danny Murphy labelled their European success a "fairytale" considering Fulham were almost relegated two seasons ago.The arrival of Hodgson steadied the ship and they have gone on to eclipse all expectations."When you recall how close we were to relegation a little over two years ago, and compare that to where we are now, it really is fairytale stuff," declared Murphy."We should all be so grateful for the fact that we are the ones living this dream."While some people may question our motivation domestically now, it would be really nice to get a couple of wins to get back into the top half of the table."To do that, at the same time as our long run in the Europa League, would be an even more special achievement."West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola's future is still uncertain at Upton Park but he put all the speculation behind him after the game."We get on with it, I don't even want to talk about that too much," said Zola."A lot has been said and we are professional and we do our best for this club."Right now I'm only willing to speak about the game, the rest doesn't matter. It's important that we focus on the last game."The Hammers have not won away from home since the opening day in August against Wolves at Molineux.A poor second-half spell cost them the chance to end that dismal run against their London rivals."I think in the first half we probably were the better team," Zola added."We had control of the game and made a couple of chances."After that we had an opportunity when Carlton Cole went through and he was given offside when he wasn't, but they came back and scored."It's been a long and exhausting season for us. We tried to give our best and obviously it is just one of those games where you would like to give more."

Source: Team_Talk