WONDER-FUL Captain fantastic Cairney lands the £170M

SLAVISA JOKANOVIC saluted Fulham’s promotion to the Premier League as a victory for football.

The Serbian coach saw his three-year project come to fruition in style as captain Tom Cairney’s well-worked first-half strike saw the Cottagers over the line.

The Scot finished off a pinpoint pass from teen wonder Ryan Sessegnon and the 10-man west London side had to withstand a fierce, second-half claret-and-blue barrage.

Defender Denis Odoi was dismissed after his second caution for fouling Villa playmaker Jack Grealish as the game entered its later stages.

But Fulham still managed to hold firm.

After a 23-game unbeaten run towards the end of the season, playing an open brand of football, they were asked to play in a pressure-cooker, winner-takes-all arena, with an estimated £170m windfall at stake.

And they did. Fulham’s boss, who was wearing a club tracksuit, after being drenched in champagne, said: “To follow the style we have been playing for three years has not been easy.

“In the first year, the plan was not to be relegated.

“Second year, build the team.

“This year it was to prove that promotion was possible. It was a really important victory. “It’s not easy playing one game at Wembley and there is an enormous amount of pressure. “It was the first experience for me and some of the young players too. We must be satisfied. “We believe that we can play this way and today we showed it.” Asked whether he could continue playing this way amid the big-hitters in the top flight, Jokanovic added: “We must adapt ourselves to what is ahead of us.

“We must be clever and don’t take one step back. We must show ambition.”

Goalscorer Cairney (left, celebrating his strike with team-mates) echoed his boss’s comments, adding that it was a hugely satisfying result after last season’s play-off semi-final defeat against Reading.

“After we missed out last