Fulham are back in action on Saturday following a two week break as we make the brief journey to Loftus Road to take on local rivals Queens Park Rangers (KO 3pm).
Martin Jol’s side ran out comfortable winners when the teams met at Craven Cottage, with the Whites matching their greatest ever Premier League victory with a scintillating performance. No stranger to local rivalry having played in both Merseyside and Rome, John Arne Riise enjoyed his first taste of a London derby in that 6-0 triumph back in October.
“The atmosphere [in that match] was beautiful, it was brilliant,” John reminisced. “We played very well that game, everybody was up for it and I could feel that was a big derby for the team and for the fans. Everything we did went in and 6-0 is a big result but I have a feeling it will be a harder game on Saturday.
“The Fulham fans are really on this game because they feel QPR is one of the biggest derbies so I’m excited and I know the fans are as well. I just want the three points to be fair – I hope we can go there and play a good game, do what we can and play at our highest level and if we do that then we have a chance to win.”
Rangers are currently desperate for points as they reside outside of the relegation places on goal difference alone and Riise knows that the team will have to be at their best to leave Loftus Road victorious.
“It’s a big game for both teams,” he admitted. “We want to go there and play our top football and if we do that then we have a chance to win and that’s what we’re looking for. We’re looking to come away with three points to set up a nice weekend and a nice day for the fans.”
Fulham’s next three matches are all against teams below them in the table, with a home tie against Wolves sandwiched between trips to QPR and Aston Villa.
“This is a good chance to push on and consolidate our place in the top half of the table,” John told fulhamfc.com. “Every game is hard but certain ones you feel you should go into and have a good chance of winning and with these next three games we should have a good chance of winning them all.
“But in the Premier League there are no easy games so we’ll have to play well to give ourselves chances to win points and if we can get some points from these three games we’ll be looking good in the table as well.”