Fulham coach Slavisa Jokanovic is expecting his side to be fully focused on the task in hand when they face Ipswich Town on Monday.
A fourth consecutive Boxing Day fixture away from home means the Fulham squad will be travelling to Suffolk on Christmas Day, but Jokanovic knows such preparation is absolutely crucial.
“It’s an important family day but at the same time we are professional in this football business,” he explained. “We will have working days on the 24th and 25th to make sure we are ready for Boxing Day.
“We will stay the night in Ipswich and we will have a similar schedule to that which we have for normal games. It’s a special day for all football fans and we have to be ready for the game.”
It’s approaching a year since Jokanovic was named the Club’s Head Coach, and while he’s satisfied with the progress made in that time, he believes there is still more to come.
“I expect after Christmas we’re going to be a still better team, still ambitious,” he stated. “I’m really grateful for how people support us.
“I believe they are more ambitious than what we provided last Christmas, and I expect we are going to do a good job in this period, and still be in a better level next Christmas.
“We are conceding less goals, we showed more ambition and more character than if you compare it with this last year.
“I believe we have improved, although we need to avoid the costly mistakes that we’ve made in the past. If we continue to grow and improve, we can reach our target for this season.”
The Whites go into the Portman Road fixture on the back of a four-game unbeaten run, during which time Stefan Johansen has chipped in with a goal in every match.
And Jokanovic has been delighted with the attitude demonstrated by the Norwegian.
“He’s a very good example for all the players,” he stated. “His first months and his first games were very complicated for him, and he’s showed how, with ambition, with concentration, with desire, with hard work, you can go from being not such an especially important player for us at the beginning of the season, to start being our best player in the last months.
“His form at the moment is at a very high level, he’s repeated his fantastic performance in the last games, and we believe he’s going to stay in the same level or, if possible, improve himself.”