Bullard realistic about survival chances
by Dan Quarrell, 26 March 2008
Fulham midfielder Jimmy Bullard admits that The Cottagers will have to beat all of their relegation rivals to keep their survival chances alive.
Roy Hodgson’s side are four points from safety, but face fellow strugglers Derby, Sunderland, Reading and Birmingham in their remaining seven games.
Bullard, who returned from a career-threatening knee injury last month, believes that the proverbial ‘six-pointers’ will decide their fate.
“We’re looking at every game as winnable,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of games coming up against teams around us, but it doesn’t matter who our games are against, we’ve just got to go and get as many three points as we can.”
Fulham will also face Liverpool and Manchester City in their run-in, before travelling to Portsmouth on the final day of the season and Bullard says that turning their luck around will be the key to the Cottagers’ prospects.
Bullard, 29, said: “Hopefully come the end of the season the luck will turn right for us. I know it’s a cliché for teams at the bottom to say that you don’t get much luck when you’re struggling, but I think we’ve been really unlucky this season. But you have to keep going don’t you?”
While Bullard’s impressive recent performances have raised interest from Aston Villa and Middlesbrough, Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has lauded the defensive displays of Norwegian Brede Hangeland.
The central defender has been a commanding presence in Fulham’s back four and Hodgson has earmarked the player he made captain at Viking FK as repeating the feat with his new club.
“He’ll captain the Norwegian team certainly within the near future – whether he captains our team depends on what other players are around,” said Hodgson, who believes that he has a real talent on his hands.
“I think he’s outstanding, he certainly has the capacity to be one of the better centre backs in the league.”