Parker hopeful Fulham will ‘click’ soon
SCOTT PARKER is confident the goals will come for Fulham after they extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to five games with a 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace.
It moved the Whites to within three points of Newcastle and Brighton but the visitors were left to reflect on what might have been.
Third-from-bottom Fulham created the better chances at Selhurst Park and yet they have scored only four goals in their last six matches. Boss
Parker (right) insisted: ‘I see these players every day and I am confident in what I see. Of course in match situations and certainly games, the one thing you can aim at us is we have not managed at certain times to kill games off but it is a young team.
‘A lot of these players are around the Premier League for the first time and what I constantly want from my players is a real honesty that we keep trying to improve and get better.
‘Life and my experiences tell me, if you keep trying to do that, things change. We have unbelievable quality here, I see it and it is now trying to get that to click in the key moments.’
Josh Maja almost broke the deadlock in the 68th minute but his close-range header was brilliantly tipped wide by Vicente Guaita.
NEWCASTLE head coach Steve Bruce is facing up to the prospect of overseeing a fight for Premier League survival without his three most dangerous players.
With leading scorer Callum Wilson already sidelined, Bruce saw Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin limp off during Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Wolves.
Asked if his team could score goals and win games without the trio, Bruce replied: ‘We’re going to have to if that is the case, we’re going to have to find a way.
‘Our top goalscorer last year only scored six goals and we managed to find a way and get some results.’
SHAUN ROONEY’S first-half header proved enough to earn St Johnstone their second piece of major silverware. Wing-back Rooney (above) headed home from a 32nd-minute corner to secure a 1-0 Betfred Cup final victory over Livingston at Hampden Park. The Perth side held on without any scares to become the first club outside Celtic to win a major Scottish trophy since Hibernian triumphed in the 2016 Scottish Cup final against Rangers.