Paul Stalteri has spoken of his “relief” that the Club’s destiny is now “finally in our own hands” ahead of Survival Sunday.
Fulham’s relegation dogfight is a new experience for Stalteri who revealed this week that a victory at Fratton Park on Sunday, which would ensure the Club’s Premier League future, would rival any of his previous accomplishments, including a Bundesliga League and Cup double with Werder Bremen.
“I’ve never been in a relegation battle before so it’s a completely different type of stress," explained Stalteri. “It’s been harder than winning the Championship with Werder Bremen to be honest.
“There we had a run and we were 25 games unbeaten. We only had one time in the season where we felt under pressure when we drew a few games in a row. It was a lot of fun - this year is a lot more stressful without a doubt.
“If you take it home with you every day it’s too stressful but you have to aware that you are fighting for the Club’s existence. If we didn’t stay the Club drops a whole division and that is huge – we all know how difficult it is to come back.
“My thoughts right now are about keeping this team in the Premier League. I think everyone here is thinking of one thing only and that’s staying up.”
“We have to be well aware that nothing has been accomplished yet, except, and this is a big thing, that we have it in our own hands.” Paul Stalteri
Whilst Stalteri admits that Fulham’s situation, “look much better than a few weeks ago,” the defender is not taking anything for granted ahead of Sunday’s grand finale, recalling the bitter experience of missing out on a Champions League berth with Spurs.
“We [Spurs] were fighting for fourth place and West Ham were fighting for nothing – they had a Cup Final six days later. Well, they came out like it was a Cup Final that day. They didn’t hold anything back and beat us 2-1.
“So you can’t say what’s going to happen - we’ve just got to worry about what we’re going to do. We need points no matter what because we have to be thinking that the teams behind us are going to win their games.
"We have to be careful - that [Birmingham] wasn’t the 38th game of the season. There are still three big points up for grabs on Sunday. The players are experienced enough but the manager will make us aware that nothing’s been done yet. He doesn’t get too excited until things actually happen and I’m a bit like as well.
"I wouldn’t celebrate something until it’s really there so we have to be careful and make sure we do the business on Sunday. We know we need to win the game. We’ve been fortunate enough to put ourselves in a position where we don’t need to look at the teams behind us. We’ve just to go out there and win and we’ll be okay.”
Stalteri’s loan move to Fulham expires at the end of the season and whilst the defender remains focused on his primary goal of keeping Fulham in the top flight, he would clearly love to be playing Premier League football with the Whites next season.
"When I first came and spoke to the Manager both sides agreed that the first and foremost task was to keep the team in the League,” Stalteri explained. “If we can do that on Sunday then maybe we can start speaking about that because I’d love to stay on at the Club.
“Looking back I would have made the exact same decision very quickly again. It was a great situation to come and help the Club. I’ve always had a good feeling for this Club even when I was playing against them. I always heard good things about it so it was a situation which worked perfectly.
“I have no regrets. I’ve enjoyed my time and worked well with the players. I think the fans have been fantastic so I’ve got a good feeling. Hopefully we can do what I came here to do - that’s win on Sunday and keep this Club in the Premier League.”
