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Fulham manager
Chris Coleman |
Fulham boss Chris Coleman paid tribute to new signing Brian McBride after his goal clinched victory over Tottenham.
Subsitute McBride, who was signed after Louis Saha went to Manchester United, bundled in the winner on 67 minutes.
"It was great for him to score on his debut but his all-round play was very good and I am delighted with him," said Coleman.
"He is not a replacement for Louis, I wanted to add him without losing anyone, but that was not to be."
Coleman added: "It was all a question of timing. I was impressed with him when he played at Everton and we were sniffing around in the summer, so we've always had an eye on him.
"I don't want to get carried away but I wouldn't have brought him here if I didn't think he could perform at this level.
"He is very strong in the air, he reads the game well, he has a fantastic attitude, he has proved he can score goals in the Premiership and he will fit into our system."
Spurs made the better of the difficult wind and rainy conditions in the first half before being over-run after the break.
"In the first half we got out of jail because I didn't think we deserved to go in at 1-1," said Coleman.
"They coped better than us but we upped it in the second half and got the result.
"This was a big result for us, we are now two wins away from 40 points which remains our first target.
"And once we get there we can march on and set our sights on something else."
Tottenham caretaker-manager David Pleat felt the timing of Fulham's equaliser was the turning point of his side's 2-1 defeat at Loftus Road.
Steed Malbranque levelled from the spot in first-half injury time before Brian McBride's second-half winner.
"If you go in at half-time 1-0 up then it changes your philosophy of the game," Pleat said.
"We tried to chase it in the second half and at 1-1 it was a very close game and looked good for a draw.
"We had a lot of the ball in the last 30 yards but didn't manage as many efforts at goal as we'd have liked.
"It was a hard and fast game which in the end went to Fulham, although it could have gone to us or ended in a draw - it was that close."