Fabio: Special Occasion

Fabio Carvalho was frustrated that Fulham were unable to clinch a Premier League return on Friday, but is not deterred in pursuit of our ultimate goal.

Victory over Derby County would have locked in a top-two finish, but a frustrating second half put celebrations on ice for the time being.

“Obviously we’re disappointed, because we know what we could have done, we could have got promotion there and then,” Carvalho said. “But we’re still proud of ourselves and we’re still confident, because of everything we’ve done this season.

“We know where we should be; the Premier League. We deserve it and the fans deserve it. We’re going to get there eventually, we just need to make sure we stay positive.

“That’s our mentality, and one thing we’ve done excellently this year is, when things haven’t gone our way, our bouncebackability has been spot on, and I’m sure we’ll bounce back again.”

Fulham could even be promoted without kicking a ball, should Nottingham Forest lose to West Bromwich Albion on Monday night.

And while Carvalho admitted that he’ll have one eye on that encounter, he’s more concerned with what his own side do against Preston North End the next day.

“Honestly, we’re fully focused on Preston, but I know myself and some of the lads – I can’t vouch for all of them – will be watching,” he stated.

“It’s not like we’re going to be supporting West Brom as that’s not something we would do because we just focus on our own game, but we’ll definitely be watching tonight.”

Regardless of how Forest get on, a victory for the Whites on Tuesday night would secure promotion for the Club, something that Carvalho is keen to get over the line so that attentions can turn to the next goal.

“Getting promoted would be a big thing but, honestly, the biggest target we set ourselves was to win the league, which is what I think we’re going to do,” the 19-year-old explained.

“Obviously we wanted to get promoted as soon as possible, which is something we deserve, but it would be even more special to do it in front of our home fans.

“They were tremendous throughout the whole 90 minutes over there [in Derby]. Obviously the result didn’t go our way but it was good to see them with us, like always, and supporting us to the best of their ability.”