Adarabioyo Ful of hope

TOSIN ADARABIOYO says anything less than promotion will be deemed a failure at Fulham this season.

The Cottagers suffered relegation 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 new boss Marco Silva’s first game in charge, 23-year-old defender Adarabioyo is 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 the demands of the new manager and hopefully it all goes well. I’m feeling good, feeling ready to go.”

Adarabioyo (above) was one of the few Fulham players who could hold his head high last season after performing well individually.

And while there was not one top-flight striker he wanted to single out as having given him a difficult game, there was one team.

He added: “Manchester City was one of our toughest games, that was one of the only games I felt we weren’t really in.”

If Fulham are to play City again next season they will need Aleksandar Mitrovic to pick up where he left off.

Adarabioyo said: “Everybody knows what Mitro is about, especially in the Championship – he gets goals.”