Scott Parker knows the foundations that need to be laid if Fulham are to have a successful return to Premier League life.
A monumental team effort saw the Whites promoted from the Championship last season, and Parker wants to see more of the same this time around.
“The challenge now is that we’ve gone from being expected to win the majority of weeks and trying to get promoted, and we now go into a division where we understand it’s going to be a lot more difficult,” he said ahead of Saturday’s curtain raiser against Arsenal.
“It’s a challenge that we have to embrace and take on, and I feel we are in a good place to do that. Mentally we’re in a place where we all understand what we face, and we’re looking forward to that.
“What we’re going to need is a real togetherness, and 11 men every time, sticking together and really fighting for each other.
Scott Parker
“We saw that last season with Sheffield United, and that’s no disrespect to them and Chris Wilder and the job they’ve done, because they’ve done absolutely fantastic, but that’s the sort of team we need to look at.
“They had a fantastic year last year and I think Chris would be the first to say that what he demands from his players to get the results is what I’m talking about.
“Other than tactics, which we obviously understand, there is a bigger dynamic which is a squad that is together, a squad that is united, a squad that is on one page, a squad that understands what this league is going to be and what we’re going to have to bring every single time.
“And with that, you’ve got a chance of being successful.”
Despite it being the first game of the season at the weekend, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side can consider themselves in good form, claiming both the FA Cup and Community Shield at Wembley in August.
“I think they could be a big force this season,” Parker stated. “There’s no denying the quality Arsenal have, the players they have.
“Mikel’s done a fantastic job in a short space of time with his team, so I think this year’s a big year for Arsenal.
“The quality in their ranks is vast, and you’ve seen that in the last few months, and when they won the FA Cup as well.
“But like always, like we did last year and we will this year, we’ll prepare for this game to try and get a result. We’ll prepare for this game to try and hurt them where we feel we can punish them.
“It will be the same for them, we understand their threats and where they can hurt us, and we’ll try to counteract that and try and limit them.”