WIN KEEPS FULHAM TOGETHER – CAIRNEY

TOM Cairney cannot wait to lead Fulham into the Premier League following a play-off final win the captain believes will keep the team together.

Vu l t u r e s h av e b e e n circling over Craven Cottage this season after Slavisa Jokanovic again got the west Londoners playing with style and skill.

Defeat to Aston Villa in the play-off final would likely have seen this Fulham side broken up but Cairney’s first-half goal secured a 1-0 win that ends their four-year absence from the top flight.

The skipper has been linked with a move away, along with the likes of 18-year-old Ryan Sessegnon and marauding full-back Ryan Fredericks but Wembley glory strengthens the Whites’ position and hopes of retaining some loan players, too.

“I signed a contract extension last summer – I believed i n what we’re doing here,” said Cairney, who attracted attention from West Ham in January.

“I believed in the way we play and the manager has put a lot of faith in me.

“I’ve tried to repay him the best I can and I think I did that.

“I t hink people were coming to the end of their contracts and stuff.

“But I think this team being in the Premier League, based in London, I think it’s an attractive club and I think it keeps the team together.

“I think that’s why I said we needed to win.”