Fulham defender Toni Kallio has stated that he thinks Fulham are stronger than ever before and ready to take on Europe next season.
The Finish international told Fulham's official website that results in the Premier League last season showed how strong his team are.
"Perhaps in the past the top teams had expected to take points against Fulham, but last season we changed that,” he said. “We beat some very good teams, and also went away and held the likes of Liverpool and Villa."
Kallio also revealed that there is a great team-spirit at the London club, which has led to an increased self belief in the side, something he believes strongly contributes to their success.
"The team-spirit at the club is fantastic and that has helped,” he smiled. “It’s one of the main reasons why we had such a great season - team-spirit and character go a long way in football. I think it will be the same next season, because it’s something that we’ve worked very hard on.
"With a couple of minutes left at home to Chelsea we were 2-1 down and then Clint [Dempsey] popped up and scored a late equaliser. All these games show just how much character we have to react to the situation."
Fulham will have to win two ties before qualifying for the group stages of next season's inaugural Europa League, the rebranded UEFA Cup, and Kallio is confident Fulham can progress.
"Hopefully we can take the momentum from the end of last season into the new one,” he mused. “We’re confident that we can do well, but we have to be well prepared because there are some difficult teams in the competition."