Fulham Manager Chris Coleman believes Fulham's spirited performance against Chelsea has provided the belief needed to emerge from the Christmas schedule in a strong position.

Fulham were written off ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge but gave Chelsea a difficult time before finally succumbing to Hernan Crespo's 74th minute winner.

The Barclays Premiership champions deserved their 3-2 triumph but Coleman has taken heart from the display ahead of tomorrow's clash with Aston Villa.

"It wasn't a case of us not expecting to beat Chelsea and concentrating on our home games. We can't be as flippant as that. I've always felt that you must maintain your momentum," he said.

"To go to Chelsea and put in a lacklustre performance because nobody fancied us would have been too easy, and I don't agree with it. I believe you have to approach every game in the same way.

"Without us being arrogant, because we can't afford to that, we had to go to Chelsea and have a go at them. That will stand us in good stead for these games coming over such a short space of time.

"We've started on the right foot and although he we didn't get the result, we gave one hell of a performance."

Injury meant Coleman was forced to pair Brian McBride and Heidar Helguson up front against Jose Mourinho's side, but the Fulham boss was delighted with their goal-scoring partnership and will use them in tandem against Villa.

"The Chelsea defence never settled and they're the best in the league," he said.

"We were all over them. John Terry is the best defender in the league and Robert Huth is very strong in the air, but McBride and Helguson terrorised them all afternoon.

"Our aim was to unsettle them and try to deny them the chance to pass it out from the back, which we managed. That gave us confidence."

Coleman has described Wednesday's clash with Villa - who thumped Everton 4-0 yesterday - as a "must-win" game and called for more of the commitment shown at Stamford Bridge.

"We looked at the bigger picture before we kicked a ball against Chelsea," he said.

"We deserved at least a point against Chelsea but every time you lose a game, the next one becomes a must-win no matter where you are in the league or how far down the line you are in the season.

"Now we have to beat Villa and approach it in the same way we did against Chelsea. The lads will be a little bit fatigued but it will be the same for Villa.

"Then we have Portsmouth and Sunderland, teams who are in and around us, so they were big games even before we kicked a ball against Chelsea."
(from the sportinglife)

Aston Villa's Thomas Sorensen believes it is vital Milan Baros and Juan Pablo Angel deliver goals in the second half of the season if Aston Villa are to climb the Barclays Premiership table.

Baros has been dogged by fitness problems since his £6million summer switch from Liverpool and Angel has struggled to repeat his form of two years ago.

But the pair looked formidable in the 4-0 demolition of Everton, with Baros netting twice and Angel coming off the bench in place of Luke Moore to grab his second goal in the last three games.

Sorensen said: "It was important for the strikers to get the goals on Monday. It is good for the team because to finish high up the table, you need the strikers to score goals.

"They delivered against Everton, it was important. We know they have quality. If your strikers are on target consistently, it makes a big difference."

Sorensen regards the trip to Fulham as pivotal to Villa's season and feels they can look upwards rather at the lower reaches of the table if they gain three points.

He said: "We have a big game against Fulham. It will be nice to take the win and performance against Everton into that game and we will be confident.

"If we can get another win there, then we can start looking the other way as regards the table rather than over our shoulder.

"It is a busy period and, so far so good, but there are still three or four games over Christmas that we need to deal with as well.

"If we continue the effort we put in on Monday and the same sort of commitment, we will get those wins."

Sorensen admitted: "One of the things we struggle with is keeping that consistency going but, apart from the Man United game, in the last five or six games there has been a big improvement.

"We are going in the right direction and the momentum we have got now, we need to keep that going.

"These are the games at the moment that we need to win. Then you gain some ground. We are climbing a bit after the results went our way on Monday and a win against Fulham sets us up for a big game against Arsenal at the weekend."

Midfielder James Milner is Villa's main doubt for the trip to Craven Cottage as he suffered a second-half hamstring injury against David Moyes' side.

If he is ruled out, then Eirik Bakke can expect to earn a recall as Lee Hendrie is still troubled by an Achilles problem.
(from the sportinglife)