Parker confident Fulham will bounce back
SCOTT Parker is confident Fulham will emerge stronger from “probably one of the most painful” defeats of their season.
Adama Traore’s last-minute strike secured Wolves a 1-0 win on Friday night, leaving the Cottagers three points behind fourth-bottom Newcastle having played two games more. Steve Bruce’s Magpies then beat Burnley on Sunday to extend the gap to six points.
On their third opportunity to move out of the bottom three for the first time since December, Fulham again fell short, slumping to their fourth successive defeat.
But Parker insists his side will not struggle to rally, saying “It is a blow, but (picking the team up again) is not my worry, that’s honestly not my concern. It really isn’t.
“We’ve been in this situation and while tonight is painful, probably one of the most painful this year, in the sense of how the game has finished, there are other issues, or bigger issues, that we need to learn from.
“But certainly picking this team up – of course straight after the game in the changing room they’re deflated, we’re hurt, but as always this team will come back stronger, and come back fighting and we’ll go again.”
Wolves striker Willian Jose was denied his first goal since joining the club on loan when his header in first-half stoppage time was ruled out for a marginal offside following a VAR review.
Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo criticised the technology after the game, saying it was not in the spirit of football.
“I saw on the monitor in the pitch, but not detailed enough for me to judge. But this is VAR, fine margins it is not the spirit of the game,” he said.
“But I hope that us in football can find a solution because these stadiums are going to be full again, it’s going to be hard to explain to thousands and thousands of people that one hand is offside, so that’s it.”
Traore’s winner brought an end to Wolves’ winless run which stretched back to February, but the boss did not see it as justice after the earlier disallowed goal.
He added: “Justice is not the word, I think we looked for it, we worked hard for it and we got our goal in the end. Like I said in the first half we score, with little movement.
“But it is not just about scoring, it is about recognising the hard work of both teams and knowing that it can happen to anyone in the last minute of the game – we have been on the other side of it. But [I am] happy for the boys because, honestly, the response to what happened on Monday was really good.”