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| Fulham Manager Jean Tigana |
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Fulham Manager Jean Tigana vowed to keep Fulham's New Year revival rolling into February after his side swept past 10-man Charlton and into tomorrow's FA Cup fifth-round draw.
Steed Malbranque fired a hat-trick, including two penalties, as the Cottagers beat the Addicks 3-0 at Loftus Road.
Fulham's form has soared since the turn of the year, with three wins and a draw following their miserable run of just one victory in nine at the end of 2002.
Tigana now wants to cap the month in which his side have clawed away from the relegation zone with another victory - at Manchester City on Wednesday.
"Our form's better than before - but I'd prefer to be a better team in the league than in cups," he said.
"I don't know why we can't score goals like we did today in the league. We work hard all the time and try to score.
"The problem is only that we need confidence inside the box. So the best thing about today was that we scored three goals.
"Now I hope to continue our good form. We have two fantastic games to play, against Manchester City and Arsenal.
"The Manchester City game is a big test for us and more important than today. I'd like to get a point against Arsenal because I'm always unlucky against them."
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Charlton boss
Alan Curbishley |
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Charlton boss Alan Curbishley said he would be studying footage of Fulham's second half penalties in the 3-0 FA Cup fourth round defeat at Loftus Road.
Curbishley disputed both of the Cottager's spot-kicks and hinted that referee Paul Durkin had favoured the home side:
"I don't know what happened with their two penalties," he said.
"With the first one, Youngy came across and thinks he tackled Boa Morte outside the area.
"The ref made his decisions but I'm going to have a look at the video. We also had two good claims but the referee dismissed them.
"In the first half, Jonatan Johansson turned into Alain Goma and he took him out. And certainly the challenge by Boa Morte on Scott Parker was a good shout for a penalty."
"You've got to take your chances and we had a great chance with Luke," he said.
"You can talk all you want about tactics. But it all boils down to this - can you take your chances when you're on top?
"It was pretty poor defending for their first goal and Fulham went on to win it convincingly in the end.
"But that's the second time this season we've turned up here, been the better side and come away with nothing. We gave it our all for 65 minutes, but once they went 2-0 up it was very hard."
Curbishley also had harsh words for the Charlton fans who launched a crescendo of boos when he substituted star man Parker with 13 minutes left.
"I'm fed up with our fans booing," he said.
"Scott's already got eight bookings and we were 2-0 down with 15 minutes left - and with a massive game on Wednesday."