BIOYO OUT TO BOUNCE BACK
TOSIN ADARABIOYO says anything less than promotion will be deemed a failure at Fulham this season.
The Cottagers were relegated to the Championship in May but are looking to bounce straight back to the Premier League, just as they did two campaigns ago.
And ahead of a tough first game against Middlesbrough today, in what will be the first match in charge for Marco Silva (below), the central defender and his pals are looking to lay down a marker.
He said: “We’re going into the season for one thing and that’s to get back to the Premier League. So anything short of that is definitely a failure.
“From day one of pre-season relegation was behind us – we can’t dwell on that for too long. It was a disappointment but we’re all just focused on this season.
“We obviously have a different manager so it’s different ways of playing, different systems, and we’re all just getting used to that, getting used to his demands and hopefully it will all go well.
“I’m feeling good, feeling ready to go and looking forward to the start against Middlesbrough.”
Adarabioyo, 23, was one of the few Fulham players who could hold his head high at the end of last season.
And while there wasn’t one top-flight striker he wanted to single out as having given him a seriously difficult game, there certainly was one team.
He said: “There were a lot of top strikers we came up against but Manchester City was one of our toughest games, that was one of the only games I felt we weren’t really in.”
Fulham’s meetings with City were big games for Adarabioyo given the fact he came through the ranks there before leaving for Craven Cottage last October.
And his time at City saw him learn so much from high-profile defenders. Adarabioyo said: “Vincent Kompany had a good influence on me, he had an amazing career and was one of the best centrehalves who has played in the Premier League.
“So I did take some things from him and I was lucky enough to be able to learn from him and see how he works. “But I probably learned the most from John Stones, he’s a top centre-half and I tried to watch him a lot.
“The decisions he makes on the pitch, his playing style, how he sees the game
– I was able to learn a fair bit from him by watching him.”
If Fulham are to play against Stones and Co again next season they will need Aleksandar
Mitrovic to pick up where he left off in tier two.
Adarabioyo added: “Everybody knows what Mitro is about, especially in the Championship.
“He gets an incredible amount of goals.”