Following Fulham’s emphatic 3-0 thrashing of West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday, a delighted Dickson Etuhu explained how he and his team-mates could sense such a result was on the horizon following some very positive performances in recent games.
Over the past week the Whites achieved an excellent 2-0 win at Stoke and were considered very unlucky to come away from Tottenham empty-handed after a display that had the on-form North Londoners on the back foot for large periods, but there was no such hard luck story on this occasion as the Baggies felt the full force of Fulham’s ire.
“It was great. We knew it was coming. We’ve been playing great in these last few games and the Manager kept telling us to keep doing the same thing. You could see the spirit in the boys and the togetherness and we knew what we needed to do,” enthused Etuhu.
“We knew this was going to happen sooner or later, because we know we’re a good team, and hopefully now this is the start of us climbing the table.”
Indeed, the result lifted the Whites five places to 13th, a timely boost after a couple of weeks spent in the gloom of the bottom three, although the central midfielder shrugs off any suggestion that league placing at this stage of the season is the be-all and end-all.
“It’s good to be out of the bottom three, but we always knew the league was very tight this year,” he said. “There’s still a long way to go and a lot of games to play. We’re looking forward to the games coming up against Wigan, Stoke, Newcastle etc. They won’t be easy, because they’re all battling as well, but they are games we know we can get results from.
“We’ve got a great team, a good management and we’ll keep going now.”
Etuhu also thanked the home fans, who created a great atmosphere under the Craven Cottage floodlights to spur the team on and counteract any fatigue that may have been setting in after the testing festive fixture schedule.
“It was great because today we had the fans on our side and I always say how important that is.
“Even if we start slowly, if they keep pushing us it can be a massive help. Today they were great and that kept us going. We’ve played a lot of games recently, but when you have that it adds to your adrenaline which gets you through.”
So now, after ending the run of four Premier League games in quick succession on a high, attention turns to the FA Cup Third Round on Saturday and the visit of Peterborough United – a match Dickson is hoping will give the Whites a chance to build more momentum.
“It will be nice if we can get another win,” he stated. “It’s good that we’re at home, and it’s a chance to build momentum, so we’re looking forward to it.
“But it won’t be easy. It’s always hard to play against lower league teams, because they work really hard, so we’ll respect them, but hopefully we’ll get the win.”