Johansen has sights set on promotion

STEFAN Johansen is hoping to put the disappointment of Norway’s FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign behind him with SkyBet Championship promotion with Fulham.

The Norwegians effectively saw any hope of reaching next summer’s tournament in Russia extinguished after a 2-0 defeat away to Northern Ireland on Sunday evening.

The loss sees the side lie fifth in Group C, seven points behind secondplace Northern Ireland at the mid-way point of the qualifying campaign.

Speaking after the loss, the Norwegian captain said: “We are disappointed with ourselves.

“It was a hard game – they played with a lot of men behind the ball and we couldn’t break them down.

“Qualification is going to be tough now – we’re going to have to be realistic.”

However, with Fulham just one point behind six-placed Sheffield Wednesday in the play-off mix, the 26-year-old still believes it is all to play for domestically.

Having recorded an impressive 3-1 away win over Newcastle United earlier this month, Johansen was disappointed to sign off ahead of the international break with just one point from games against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers.

“The last two games were disappointing for us but we are still aiming to get into the top six,” Johansen said.

“Who it is in place of doesn’t matter, we just need to focus on ourselves and get in the Play-offs and then try to win them.”

Should the Cottagers make the top six, there will be no-one they fear as they have a strong record over a number of potential fellow promotion contenders, having recorded 5-0 victories over both Huddersfield Town and Reading FC earlier in the season.

“We know we’re a good team and when we’re at our best we can beat anyone in the league,” added Johansen.

“But we need to focus and take it one game at a time – every game now is going to be a Cup Final so we just need to push on and see where it takes us.” ■■Eden Hazard, not Chelsea, will decide if he will move to Real Madrid this summer, according to former Real president Ramon Calderon.

Chelsea insist Hazard is happy at Stamford Bridge and is settled in London with his young family.

He is under contract until June 2020.

But Real’s perennial interest has resurfaced, with speculation again linking Hazard with a switch to the Bernabeu.