Defensive Duty

Paul Stalteri has slotted into Fulham’s defensive unit with impressive ease following his January switch from White Hart Lane. The Canadian international is clearly enjoying his spell at the Cottage and is firmly focused on gaining the points recent performances have merited.

“I made my decision to come on loan to Fulham and give my best to them and once that decision was made I didn’t look back and wonder what I might have been doing at Spurs. I have spoken to a lot of the players since the Cup victory, it was a great day not only for them but for the fans and the club as a whole, but ask me if I would make the same decision again I would say ‘yes, in a heart beat'.

“It’s a good chance for me to get back playing again week-in, week-out. Unfortunately the results haven’t been there in my first few games or so; you could say we’ve been unlucky in a couple of those matches but we’re not the sort of squad that will keep pointing to luck, but the performances are there, hopefully the results will now follow."

Stalteri swapped mid-table security at White Hart Lane for a relegation battle at the Cottage and with nine games remaining he firmly believes that the Whites can pull clear of the relegation zone, even if it goes to the final game of the season, as he predicts.

“Although Tottenham started out a bit shaky, I don’t think there was ever really any doubt that the club would move up the table, I think it was just a matter of when it would happen. They’re still perhaps not in the best of positions; I mean not where they would have like to have been going into the season. Here it is slightly different, we’re in a position that no team in the league wants to be in, but we’re also in a position where we can still do something about it.

“We have nine games to go and we need to string a run together where we get not only points but wins. This season will go all the way to the last game of the season and we’ll be fighting all the way to that last game to ensure we’re not in those bottom three places.”

Stalteri was in the thick of things last weekend at Ewood Park during Fulham’s one-all draw with Blackburn. Before netting the opening goal of the game, Rovers winger Pedersen appeared to impede Stalteri on his route to goal. After the game the defender spoke to Referee Mike Riley who explained to Stalteri that he had missed the incident.

“When I spoke to Mike Riley [last Saturday’s official], he is one of the more experienced referees in England, he explained that he hadn’t seen it. I’m not entirely sure how he didn’t see it but I guess if you don’t see these things then you cannot blow a whistle for them. In his defence at least he didn’t say it wasn’t a foul, he just said he hadn’t seen it, and when he tells you that there isn’t a lot more you can say.

“There aren’t too many teams that come out of Blackburn with a point, as it’s a difficult place to go. A point isn’t bad but as I’ve said before we need to start winning games on the road as well as our home games. We’re in a position now where we need to avoid dropping points home and away if we want to get out of the position we find ourselves in now."

As for Stalteri's long term future the defender is keeping such thoughts on hold as he concentrates on his short term ambition of retaining Fulham's Premier League status for an eighth successive season.

“I still have another year on my contract at Spurs after this, but for me and the rest of the squad, the main goal is to ensure that we keep this side in the Premier League, the rest can wait for now. Of course, it would be nice to make the move permanent but we just have to focus on the team’s survival, the rest takes a back seat for now.”