Fulham Head Coach Scott Parker praised the protocols implemented by the Club in his absence, but was delighted to return to Motspur Park this week.
After a member of his family tested positive for Covid-19, Fulham’s Head Coach had to lead the team from home against Southampton, but he will be back in the dugout for Wednesday’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur.
“I’m back in,” he confirmed in his pre-match press conference. “I had to self-isolate for 10 days so I did that, got a negative result again two days ago, so I’m back in with the team and I’m pleased about that.
“Just being around the place, bringing personality, seeing people in the flesh, is always much better.
“You have a much better understanding and someone in my position sees things much clearer, but we’d prepared and planned for the scenario that happened, so we had everything in place to fall on.
“This current climate is unpredictable, so we knew what measures we needed to take and they worked very, very well, with Zoom and being in constant dialogue with the team.
“It worked very well, the best it could. Of course it’s not ideal, but we’re not living in an ideal world.”
We head to North London preparing to face a Spurs side that has taken just two points from a possible 12 recently.
But when asked if now was a good time to face Jose Mourinho’s men, Parker replied: “It’s not just Tottenham, any team who are on a little bit of a dip or whose results have not gone too well, it can work both ways.
“It can be that you’re playing against a bit of a wounded animal in a sense of they need a result and you need to be very alert and realise that, and at the same time can you add that little bit of pressure, can we make it uncomfortable at times in the game.
“So I think it works both ways really, I think we need to have an eye on both sides of it. We understand we’re playing against an exceptionally good team.
“I was there for a short time as an Under-18s coach, and everything about the football club is top class in terms of training facilities, the squad they’ve got, and we need to be fully aware of that, but also understanding that it might be an opportunity for us to get something.”
Parker played 63 times for Tottenham across two seasons prior to joining Fulham, so it’s a fixture he’s relishing.
“I am looking forward to going back there,” he said. “I spent a couple of years at Spurs as a player which I thoroughly enjoyed, I had a brilliant rapport with the fans.
“Then I obviously went back there developing the younger players, so I’m looking forward to going back as a Manager of a team now.
“I’m looking forward to seeing some familiar faces who I spent a lot of time with.”