Aaron Hughes has a enjoyed a fine start to the season in the heart of Fulham's defence and the Northern Ireland captain was clearly delighted to have to taken all three points against an in-form Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.
"That was a hard game for us on Saturday and a really good win," Hughes explained. "It keeps us moving upwards rather than looking over our shoulder. Everyone was happy because Tottenham are a form team with confidence who came into Saturday's game on the back of some very good results.
"They've played as well as anyone in the league recently so it was no different from coming up against Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea. Everyone was satisfied and we played quite well. We had some good spells and Tottenham's chances were limited so we're pretty happy with how things went."
Hughes picked up a heavy blow just above his right eye on Saturday afternoon and misses out on Northern Ireland's midweek friendly against Hungary at Windsor Park. The central defender expects to be fit for Saturday's trip to Anfield but will be taking every precaution in training this week.
"It happened ten minutes from the end and it was stapled up on the side of the pitch. It's a hard place to cover. If I put anything on it will obstruct my vision. After the game it was swollen and sore. I couldn't really see out of it because of the swelling. It should be fine for Saturday but I need look after it and make sure I don't open it up again. Hopefully it'll be okay for the game at the weekend."
Fulham will be looking to consolidate their position in the top ten this weekend when they take on Liverpool and Hughes is clearly focused on leaving Anfield with a result on Saturday night.
"Anfield is one of my favourite stadiums," Hughes revealed. "The atmosphere is always great at Anfield and it's a hard place to go and get a result. We're going to have to be on our toes but we've got to be confident because we're not doing too badly.
"This season we've never been outplayed. The games that we've lost have been by very small margins. We need to keep our work rate up and keep our passing going."
Fulham's currently hold one of the best defensive records in the Premier League and whilst Hughes highlights several contributing factors to that good form, working as a complete unit is the most important element for Hughes.
"Our defensive record is down to a number of things, including how much time we spend on the training pitch working on things like our position or shape.
"It's a stable back four but it's not just us though. We get help from the other guys as well. It's always the way that when a team has a good defensive record everyone looks at the back four, but you look at the lads up front pressing and stopping the long balls and midfielders screening and stopping runs from midfield.
"Defending is a group thing. When you get a consistent run like we've had it's down to the whole team working very hard."
