04 February 2021

Scott Parker admits Fulham’s struggles in final third have hurt them this season

04 February 2021

Scott Parker admitted Fulham’s decision-making in the final third has fallen short at times this season.

The Cottagers have won just two Premier League games this campaign, the joint-lowest total in the division alongside West Brom, while Sheffield United who remain rooted to the foot of the table have won three.

Fulham have scored just 17 times in the top flight and up until the recent loan signing of Josh Maja, Aleksandar Mitrovic was the only recognised centre-forward in the squad.

“I think there have been some very, very good performances, which we’ve not been able to convert those draws into wins, (that’s what) it all boils down to,” Parker said.

“We’ve had some big moments in games to win games rather than draws and we’ve not quite been on the right end of it.

“Our final detail in and around the final third has let us down a little bit and we’ve not always made the right decisions.

“I’m not only talking about finishing and executing here, I’m talking about getting yourself into positions that you can score goals and sometimes we’ve fallen a little bit short of that.

“I think it’s clear for people to see and I think people in football will understand that this is a team that are fighting, this is a team that have big quality in the way we play, we try to put our stamp on games, but they’ll also see where we’re struggling a little bit at times and we’ll try and work on that as much as we can to fix it really.”

Fulham host West Ham on Saturday with David Moyes’ men currently in fifth place, just two points behind fourth-placed Liverpool, and Parker expects a difficult match against a club he once represented.

“They’ve done fantastic really and David’s (Moyes) done an amazing job there from last year and where they were as a team,” the Fulham boss said.

“They’re on a real vein of form really, a very good side, that have a habit of knowing how to win football matches.

“A big challenge for us at the weekend, one I see that we can get a result in for sure, but at the same time I understand that we need to be at our best to get that, so we’ll try and do that.”

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