Fulham Coach Slavisa Jokanovic was delighted with his team’s performance in the 3-1 win over Ipswich Town and says that they were unlucky not to secure a clean sheet.
“I am always happy when we win three points,” said Jokanovc, “I am happy with the reaction. After the defeat against Derby we were a little bit confused why we lost the game when we played many minutes of good football.
“But we made the wrong decision in crucial moments during the game. Today we showed the character and our ambition and played with confidence.
“We scored three goals and we could have scored some more goals, to be honest we were in some kind of trouble during the game but this time we knew better how to survive these moments.
“We should have finished the game with a clean sheet, we were so close, at the end they scored the goal and I’m not sure if the situation was legal or illegal but generally I am happy.
“From the other side we are a Championship team and there is a huge and massive space for us to improve, for now we will try and improve ourselves and find our best performance for this critical moment in the competition, with five games in front of us.”
Speaking on the decision to replace David Button with Marcus Bettinelli Jokanovc spoke about how lucky he is to have two fantastic goalkeepers to choose from.
“First of all David Button is a fantastic man, he has done a fantastic job in these 40 games that are behind us.
“I am always looking for what I believe is best for my team, I take this decision at the end and Marcus Bettinelli completed a very good performance, he must be happy with those 90 minutes.
“We were so close to getting a clean sheet, we didn’t do it but I expect in the next game we can make improvements.
“David Button has done a fantastic job for us, he is a great man, really professional. He took the decision really well and I am sure he will be ready if the team needs him, he will be available.
“From the other side that is part of football, I make decisions and I try always to make the best decision for my team.”
Fulham’s style of play has often been lauded by opposition managers but it has left them open at the back at times, Jokanovc says that if improvements are made there is no need to change the way that we play.
“I explained that there is massive space for this team to improve and from the other side we try and follow this kind of style because we believe this is the best and easiest way for us to win the game.
“In one football game the situation changes all the time and we expect some bad moments in not just this game, but all the games and we must be more experienced, with more personality and be more solid to survive these bad moments.
“If I compare teams in front of us like Newcastle or Brighton, I am not sure that they play better football than what we play but I am sure they are more quiet in crucial moments in the game, they are more solid and they survive difficult moments during the game, more easier than us.
“We need to improve, I am talking about my team, not just the defensive part of Fulham but in general we need to say in these moments we will be compact, we must be tight, find the right distance and stick around our goal and don’t give the opposition easy goals.
“In this last game against Derby we opened the door so easy for them and they punished us so hard, we must avoid these kind of situations and be more competitive and more brave and more experienced in these moments.
“This short period which is in front of us we must improve this part of our game, and this part of the game can push us into the top six.
“We can still try and play better football, try and pass accurately and play with more skill than the opposite team.
“We can reduce the time that we spend in the defensive part of the game but I will try still to dominate the game and be more quiet in these moments.
“There are five games before the end of the regular part of the season and I believe my players can do a great job and I believe they will push themselves for the best performance in this last crucial period of the Championship and that’s it, I can’t ask for a different way.”