SLOPPY FULHAM GIVE LAMBERT A LIFT

STRUGGLING for goals? Enter Fulham. Blackburn had scored just three in the Championship since December 11 but the visitors came bearing gifts. It was all too familiar for Fulham’s suffering supporters. Goals either side of half-time from defenders Ben Marshall and Shane Duffy before Danny Graham’s late header worsened Slavisa Jokanovic’s relegation fears and provided Paul Lambert with some relief ahead of West Ham’s trip here in the FA Cup. The Serbian has plenty of backers at Craven Cottage but they have now won only two of their last 17 Championship games. No clean sheet since October 17 either. Jokanovic could only apologise. ‘I say sorry to the fans who travelled with us to watch,’ he said. ‘We didn’t offer anything special. We played without spirit, without competitiveness, without desire. We didn’t try to play football. We didn’t do anything important.’ The first goal was utterly avoidable. Marshall set off on a mazy run from the right, bundling into the box and waiting for Luke Garbutt to blink first. The defender did, dangling a leg for his opposite full back to trip over. Marshall scored his fourth goal in five matches from the spot, sending Andy Lonergan the wrong way on 15 minutes. Jokanovic’s arms were outstretched, scarcely believing the ease with which Rovers managed to secure a lead. He took off Garbutt — on loan from Everton and being watched by Toffees Under-21 boss David Unsworth — just past the half-hour mark. Rovers were better throughout, Duffy escaping his marker to thunder home a second in the 62nd minute, making sure their run of nine without a win would not stretch any further. There was even time for Lonergan to embarrassingly fail to stop Graham’s tame header with moments to go, the striker’s first goal since May. Lambert said: ‘I’ve always liked Danny. He’s got the hunger. If there’s one guy I’m absolutely delighted to see score, it’s him.’