Fulham Head Coach Scott Parker was thrilled with the two sides to Fulham he witnessed on Friday night.
The Whites were electric in the opening half an hour and could have been out of sight, whereas in the second half we dug in to grind out an important 1-0 win.
“First half I thought we were fantastic in what we did, the way we played and the way we moved the ball,” Parker said.
“Everything we worked on in the week worked well, with Bobby [Decordova-Reid] dropping down as a bit of a false nine and overloading them in the middle of the park.
We were dynamic at times with some lovely bits of play.
“In the second half we had some big, big chances to put the game to bed, and obviously it gets a bit edgy [when we don’t do that].
If it’s 2-0, 3-0 at half-time I think everyone says it’s a fair reflection of the first half.
“Second half you’re searching for that one goal to take a deep breath and see the game out, but we saw the game out well.
“Another clean sheet, which was key. It was a good performance all round for us.
“I think you’ve seen two sides to this team, which pleases me most. First half you’ve seen a team that moves the ball well, a dynamism about us.
Second half you’ve seen a grittiness about us where we can see a game out.”
Victory moved Fulham to within four points of second place Leeds United, but while Parker still views that as a positive, he’s more concerned about his own side.
“It’s always good,” he admitted. “You’re playing early before the teams above you that you’re trying to chase, and you put that pressure on.
“The main aim for us is to focus on ourselves and keep working on what gets you results in this league. And what gets you results is an endeavour, a work ethic, and we’ve shown that the last few weeks.
“At times this year we’ve been in a good position and we’ve slipped up, and we’ve hit little bumps. We now need to concentrate on ourselves, keep winning games and ultimately keep producing what we’ve produced tonight.”