Fulham need more ‘big boys’

FULHAM manager Slavisa Jokanovic has called for his team to show more character despite picking up his first point in charge against in-form Huddersfield.

The Cottagers ended their three game losing run as captain Ross McCormack put them ahead after two minutes, only for Huddersfield skipper Mark Hudson to equalise 19 minutes in.

However Jokanovic is still not satisfied with the way his team is playing and wants to see more fight from his side.

“This is a competition for big boys,” said Jokanovic.

“We need to be more solid and prepared to compete. We need more confidence, personality and character to be solid and ready for the fight.

“My target is not to get a point, my target is to win the game and generally I believe we are starting to improve but we want to play better football.

“With more time and training we can take steps to improve and soon we will be competing with every Championship team.

“At the same time we want to try to find some improvements in the loan market and I expect we will make some steps.”

Fulham took the lead in the second minute through McCormack who calmly slotted home after being gifted the ball by Huddersfield midfielder Jonathan Hogg.

Jamie Paterson went close to levelling in the tenth minute but saw his curling effort strike the frame of the goal.

Alex Kacaniklic thought he had doubled the visitors lead only for the linesman to rule it out for offside.

The Terriers found the equaliser as Emyr Huws’ pin-point delivery was met by skipper Mark Hudson to volley in his second goal in as many games.

McCormack almost doubled his tally for the day in the 33rd minute but his shot was blocked by the scrambling Town defence before Huws then went close for the hosts.

Huddersfield were finding joy in behind the Fulham defence and that almost paid dividends in the 40th minute as Nahki Wells pounced on a mistake from Dan Burn but he couldn’t get his shot away.

Fulham had the last chance of a fast-paced half as a mammoth scramble in the Terriers’ six-yard box saw the ball fall to Kacaniklic whose effort was blocked.

The home side took the initiative after the break with Wells and Harry Bunn both forcing good saves from Fulham keeper Andrew Lonergan.

As the second half went on, the game became scrappy and the final chance came when Fulham substitute Moussa Dembele found space in the box but headed wide.

Huddersfield boss David Wagner agreed that a draw was fair, although he too wasn’t overjoyed with his side’s display.

“After the game I accept this result and I’m not unhappy with the result,” he said.

“Before the game we had the target to win, but we played against a good opponent with a good game plan and if you start the game like we did, then it’s not easy to come back in the game.

“The first-half wasn’t our best because we didn’t do what we spoke about when we tried to prepare the squad, but the second-half was much better.

“I enjoyed the game because from the technical side it was nice to watch. It’s good to be six games unbeaten. To change your style to play against Huddersfield with high pressure, this is not easy and we will find solutions better than we had in this game.”