Cyrus Christie hopes the Leeds United fixture will reignite Fulham’s promotion campaign.
Three defeats have seen the gap between ourselves and Saturday’s opponents widen in recent weeks, but Christie knows victory over one of the pacesetters would get things right back on track.
“Leeds are in the top-two at the minute and are obviously a good side,” he told fulhamfc.com.
“After four wins on the bounce we’re now on a bad run, so if we can go out there and put on a performance against Leeds and get the win then it’s definitely another momentum starter and confidence boost for the lads.
“[Marcelo Bielsa] has come in and he’s done really well. I know a few of the lads who have played under him at Leeds and they said he was really good to work for. He’s implemented his style and we’ve got to match it, we’ve got be better than them, and I’m sure we can.
“I’ve seen quite a bit of them this season. Every player knows what they’re doing and their roles, the manager’s been in place for a while and, like I said, has implemented his style.
“Clearly they’re all buying into it and it’s working for them as they’re up in the top-two, and I’m sure they’re going to be in and around it come the end of the season.”
Christie continued: “I think they were unlucky last year, they kind of faded off a bit which didn’t help them but they’ve come back strong. We know what we’re going to face, we’re in for a tough game.
“They’re full of confidence while we’re probably low on the confidence side on the back of these results, but this is where we’ve got to stand up and be counted, and show true character to get through the game. If we play how we know we can, there’s no reason we can’t get the win.”
Christie found himself behind Steven Sessegnon and Denis Odoi in the pecking order to begin with this season, but has now forced his way into Scott Parker’s thinking.
After an impressive appearance from the bench at St Andrew’s last month, the right-back has been involved in every fixture since, starting the previous two.
“The beginning of the season was tough,” Christie admitted. “Matchdays I’m out there training on my own and then coming and watching the games. It’s tough when you believe that you should be playing.
“Obviously Stevie did well and Denis has done well, so for me it was just about waiting patiently for my time, training well and making sure that I was ready to come in.
“I wasn’t getting the minutes that I’d have liked but I still managed to be up there amongst the highest [statistics] with the running stuff, so I’ve kept myself in decent nick.
“It’s now about getting match sharp and hopefully I can help the team and show what I’m capable of. I came on at Birmingham and did well, and think in other sub appearances I’ve shown what I’m capable of.
“And when I’ve played recently, I know the games haven’t gone well but personally I think I did okay defensively and offensively. Hopefully I can get a run of games now to prove myself.”