Lawrie Sanchez

Lawrie Sanchez has made curing Fulham’s travel sickness his first priority after being appointed full-time manager. Fulham have not won in their past 17 away games and recorded only one away victory all season — back in September at Newcastle.

The club achieved the same unenviable record last term when they managed only one win on their travels under former boss Chris Coleman.

Sanchez wants to celebrate his first game in full control by beating Coleman’s awful record with a win at Middlesbrough today.

"We’ve played two away games already, against Reading and Arsenal, and I thought we could have won either of them," said Sanchez. "The away record is a problem area which needs to be solved psychologically. You cannot afford to be in a situation like this a where you only win one away game over a season.

"The priority now is to get something at Middlesbrough. I want to get the five points I targeted when I took over. I thought we might have to go there under pressure but we can relax a bit and that might be good for the team."

The Fulham manager could hand Clint Dempsey his first start for the club after he came off the bench to score the winner against Liverpool which secured their Premiership status and helped Sanchez land the Craven Cottage job.

The new manager added: "He’s done well when he has come on and there is a good chance he’ll be rewarded with a start."