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Fulham assistant manager
Christian Damiano |
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Fulham assistant manager Christian Damiano said the return of Louis Saha not only helped Fulham into the FA Cup fourth round but will kickstart their Premiership campaign.
The 27-year-old French striker returned from a four-month injury lay-off to score Fulham's third goal in their 3-1 defeat of Birmingham on Sunday.
"Perhaps he will be our joker for the league," said Damiano.
"Saha's performance was very important. He changed the face of the team very quickly and thought about the game very well.
"It was important to confirm our quality today. We've been playing well but never scoring, so scoring today was the big difference.
"And with Saha back and a good result today - when we were solid at the back and could have scored more goals - it looks good for the future.
"We're hoping for the comebacks of some other injured players," added Damiano.
"And with a little more space between games now, we'll have more opportunities to work with the players."
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Birmingham Manager |
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In contrast, Birmingham manager Steve Bruce was very disappointed in his side.
"That was probably the worst game we've played in six months," he said.
"The simple matter is that we were well beaten and didn't deserve anything less.
"We didn't get started and only showed anything about us when we were 3-0 down.
"That's when we decided to do something about it.
"But with all five of our central defenders missing, and eight players out all together, people like Saha were too much to cope with."