It’s looking up for Claudio

FULHAM boss Claudio Ranieri wants his players to forget about their league position at Newcastle today.

He admits it will be hard to ignore that they are bottom of the Premier League. But he says that could be a blessing in disguise – as the only way is up. “I don’t want them to think, ‘We are bottom’, although everybody knows,” the Italian said. “It’s important to think, ‘What can we do more?’.” Cutting out the errors that cost goals in the 2-0 home defeat by West Ham a week ago will be a start. And positive thinking will help.

“We play well, yes, but we make mistakes,” Ranieri (left) added. “We have to improve the little details.

“I tell the players, ‘We made two mistakes, West Ham shot four times and scored two goals. We shot 16 times and didn’t score a goal’.

“In this moment, when we make one mistake, it’s a goal but maybe the moment will arrive when our opponents miss an easy chance and we win the match.

“That’s football. But you must continue to believe. You must be positive.

“If you are negative, that is a problem for the manager, for the players, for the team.

“If you are negative, the negative arrives. If you are positive, the negative can still arrive but you are strong and you try to get over it.

“That is my idea about not just football but life.”