On the back of the Chelsea disappointment, it was vital we took a good result into the international break against Sheffield United. After they pulled us back it might have looked like we were headed for a draw, but it was great character from the lads to hit straight back and get the win. It was a game that everyone would have looked at and said Fulham have got to win, so there was a different kind of pressure on us, but we came through that. Sheffield United haven’t won a game yet, so the talk in the dressing room would have been, ‘don’t let us be the ones that give them their first win.’ So for us to win the game, and end up winning it 3-1 comfortably, is big.
Tim Ream brought up 300 Fulham appearances in that game, which just shows you what a professional he is. He’s played under a number of different coaches in that time, and sometimes when a new manager comes in he wants to scrap things and bring in his own players, but Tim has always dug in. When he got us to the Premier League the first time but then didn’t really play, after we got relegated he came straight back in and became a very important player again. People thought the same thing would happen the last time we went up, but under Marco Silva he's showing that he can cut it at this level. He's a class of his own, the fans love him, he loves the club, his family are happy here. It will have been a very, very proud day for him and his family.
The fact that you need to go back more than 26 years for the last time a player reached that milestone puts it into context. (If you’re wondering who that was, it was Captain Morgs himself.) I made 198 appearances for Fulham, but people always assume it was more. My first season under Micky Adams, I only played like seven minutes! I was training with the First Team and travelling with them, I was there in Carlisle, but only made that one appearance in that season. Jealous might be the wrong word, but I would have loved to have reached that number myself for Fulham. If I could go back now and change everything I would have just stayed at Fulham for my whole career. I’m not just saying that, it’s the truth, because the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Apart from Portsmouth, everywhere else was a bad fit for me. Fulham gave me the opportunity from a young age, we went up through all the leagues so, in hindsight, I should have stayed. Knowing what I know now once I moved and how I was treated by certain other managers and certain chairmen, hell yeah I would have stayed. But that’s life, you get knocked down and get back up.
The other talking point from the weekend was the awful injury suffered by Chris Basham. You never like to see injuries like that, regardless of if it’s your player or any other player. It’s tough, bad injuries can change a player, so I wish him all the luck and hopefully he comes back swiftly. When I joined Bolton, he was coming through and he was a fantastic young lad, on and off the pitch. It shows you he's had a great career and I'm hoping that he can swiftly come back and still get a hundred-odd games in him. These kinds of horrible injuries, you never know how long it's going to take him, but I’d like to send my love to Chris and his family.
We’re playing three of the top-six, plus Manchester United, after the international break. Every game in the Premier League brings up its own challenges and its own pressures. Sheffield United was big pressure – we were at home and we had to win. We're away in three of these upcoming games so will be the underdogs, but I think that the lads embrace that. We saw it last season, and we saw it earlier this season at Arsenal and Man City – we go to these big clubs and give them a game. We know these teams aren’t going to take us lightly after last season’s performance, so we're going to have to raise our standards, but the players did that in the last game. The dressing room seems good, the players will want to try and get higher than they did last season, and that's probably the aim. Can we get up in the top 10, and if we do, can we then fight for a European place? I think that's where the Club has to go. But for now, we keep our feet on the ground and take each game as it comes.
