Tom aims for sequel

TOM CAIRNEY casts his mind back to this time last year when Fulham were 17th in the Championship.

The midfielder was part of a miraculous run of wins to earn promotion – and he insists Claudio Ranieri can conjure a similar revival this season.

Fulham grabbed their first clean sheet of the campaign at Newcastle and Cairney, above, said they now face “season-defining” home games against Wolves today and Huddersfield three days later.

Fulham are four points from safety but, with Ranieri tightening up the Cottagers, Cairney said: “Things have changed. The two managers we’ve had are very different with very different styles.

“There’s a lot more shape – concentrating on being solid and breaking and hitting teams on the counter.”

Fulham had leaked two goals or more in 18 of their 21-game run without a clean sheet and Cairney added: “We’ve had to score three goals to win and it’s only the top teams that can do that.

“We’ve got to build on a solid foundation and clean sheets are a must if we’re going to climb up the league.

“You can see that we’re bedding in under the new manager. We got a win against Southampton and a draw against Leicester when we should have won. We’re getting better. But the next two games, the next month, is season-defining.

“We play Wolves and Huddersfield and we’ve got to pick up points in those games. We’ve got to do that. They’re home games and I’m confident that we can get something out of them, but we need a bit of luck.” NEWCASTLE defender Javier Manquillo is tipping his former club Liverpool to be crowned the Premier League champions this season.