Chris Coleman breathed a sigh of relief that Louis Saha was on the bench as the Frenchman inspired a comeback that helped the Division One leaders beat Crewe.
Coleman, standing in for manager Jean Tigana, who is still only on Linguaphone Level 1, said: "The difference was Saha. We knew at half-time that we lacked a cutting edge, so we decided to bring Saha on and put three up front.
"That made the difference and Saha was exceptional - he gave us a boost and proved the turning point for us.
"Saha was not playing because we felt he needed a rest. We have had a lot of games lately so the boss decided to rotate and use our strong, fit squad of players. For the first 15 minutes we were not at the races and Crewe gave us a shock, although when we came here we were aware they were a good footballing side.
"At Fulham we are definitely not taking anything for granted, it's only halfway through the season and although we are top of the table now there's still a long way to go."
Crewe manager Dario Gradi was proud of his players, stating: "It was a case of
nearly but not quite. I'm pleased with my players - they played well and to the best of their ability, but in the end there was just a difference in quality.
"After we had taken the lead we knew it would be hard to keep it up. I was ready for Fulham to change their formation but they proved just too quick for us to play three versus three at the back. Their forwards were hard to hold, they were quick and pacy and ours weren't.
"The game was played very quickly and at times too quick for us and their front men were always dangerous and looking for the ball. There was a feeling before the game from our players that we could get something out of this and at the end of the day that's the best I can do when I send them out.
"Fulham had some great players and one day I'd like to see us be able to buy the quality that they have."
Source sky