‘ I don’t need to practise nasty stuff ’
KEVIN McDONALD carries the tag of the worst trainer at Fulham.
But neither team- mates nor fans should worry about what the midfi elder will bring to Wembley in the most lucrative match of the season tomorrow.
“I’ll give everything I’ve got for Fulham,” said McDonald on the eve of the Championship play- off fi nal against Aston Villa. “I am ready now to take another step forward, even though I’ve been accused of being the worst trainer in the club.
“I still am, I don’t know why. I just switch off at times. I know you should train how you play, but I feel more relaxed doing it my way.
“But when it comes to match day I know I am ready. It’s always been that way and I am not going to change now.
‘‘ I want to make sure I am 100 per cent fresh and ready. The manager doesn’t really accept it, he lets it go under the radar but does pull me up every now and then.
“But he knows he can rely on me when it comes to match day, I’m the fi rst one to put myself forward for a fi ght, or a battle. I wouldn’t want to cross him though. He’s not scary, but he can be a bit intimidating for certain people.”
Victory for Fulham will see Slavisa Jokanovic reach the Premier League for the second time. He achieved the feat with Watford in 2015 but then left the club before the new season began.
Jokanovic has turned Fulham into the Championship’s most stylish side but McDonald knows they may have to get physical when it matters most tomorrow.
“We just might need nasty,” said McDonald.
“We are generally accepted as the team who plays possession football to a very high standard but we also know we have to be 100 per cent ready if we are to beat Villa.
“It’s not all about playing nice football. We have to earn the right to do that. They will be up for a fi ght, too, so we’ll need to make sure we are up for exactly the same.
“Its going to be a tough game. We have to get our heads down. If we don’t put in the hard work – and that means every single one of us – we will get beaten.
“People say we play Premier League football in the Championship. I’m not sure about that – when we played Tottenham in the cup we got battered. We can’t just turn up to get and expect to play for 90 minutes. We also have to show we have that nasty streak if it’s needed.”
Fulham fi nished the season in third place, fi ve points ahead of Villa in fourth. But the team rated the culture club of the division know they will be fully tested by a Villa side searching for their own return to the top fl ight.
Villa were relegated at the end of the 2015- 2016 season, while Fulham dropped into the Championship two years earlier.
And McDonald knows the roller- coaster of emotions this fi nal match can bring, having previously won promotion in the play- offs with Burnley and