Davis: Fulham can win Championship

BY YANN TEAR
yann@slpmedia.co.uk­

Former Fulham star Sean Davis believes his old team are on course to win the Championship, and has praised the way they have turned things around after the horror home defeat to Hull.

A 2-1 win at Swansea City on Friday made it four wins in a row since the 3-0 home loss to the Tigers.

Aleksandar Mitrovic netted both to take his tally of domestic goals this season to 15.

Davis, who made 155 appearances for the club in an eight-year spell, which included the famous rise through the divisions and first promotion to the Premier League under Jean Tigana, knows what it takes to go up and is convinced the Whites have what it takes.

He told Fulhamfc.com: “We’re in a much better position than we have been for years in the Championship.

“I don’t think this team will get carried away, I think they’ve got that hunger and desire about them, rather than arrogance or cockiness.

“I do believe this team is more than capable of going on to win the Championship. With the players and characters we’ve got, why not?

In my opinion this team is better than the one that was in the Premier League.

“The players and staff will take each game as it comes, work their socks off and be professional, but in the back of their minds the aspiration will be there to at least get in the top two.”

Davis, who turned 40 in September, and is now a commentator, added: “It’s fantastic to string four wins together, especially after what happened in the Hull game.

“It just shows the lads have listened, they’ve thrashed out whatever went wrong and shown character to move on from that game.

“We needed a reaction, and the reaction has been the best it could possibly be. Sometimes a defeat can do that, spark something, get you back to basics.”

The Whites play Bristol City next as they bid to keep pace with the top two. Fulham are in third place, five points behind Leeds and seven behind table-toppers West Brom.

Visiting City are fifth, three points behind Fulham.

City hammered Huddersfield Town 5-2 last weekend and have only lost three so far, but Davis is confident of a home win for Fulham.

“While they had a very good win on Saturday, their form isn’t actually that great,” he said. “They’ve drawn a lot of matches this season. It’s always going to be a tough game, though.”

The last time the teams met, Mitrovic bagged his first Fulham goal after joining in January 2018 – the game ending in a 1-1 draw at Ashton Gate.

Scoring the equaliser for Bristol City that day was a certain Bobby Reid, who moved on to Cardiff City at the end of that season.

The first match between the teams in Fulham’s promotion season ended in a 2-0 win to the Robins, when Reid was again on target, along with Korey Smith.

Bristol City have won on each of their past four visits to Craven Cottage.

Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham scored in a 4-0 Championship win in 2016 (when Reid again helped himself to a goal) having also netted in 2-1 League Cup triumph three days earlier.

The Whites have won on two of their past three visits to Bristol,
redressing the balance a bit, but you have to go back 22 years to find the last Fulham win against City on home soil, when Chris Coleman was in defence and Paul Moody scored the only goal in a 1-0 success.

Meanwhile, Fulham have been handed a home tie against Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round. The Whites famously defeated the Villans 1-0 at Wembley Stadium in the promotion play-off two seasons ago, with Tom Cairney settling the outcome. This will be the first encounter between the sides since then.

Main Pic: Aleksandar Mitrovic in action against Hull City. Picture: PA