AJ confident of Cottage success
Andy Johnson reckons Fulham fans can look forward to a season in the top half of the table following a decent summer in the transfer market.Johnson himself signed for Roy Hodgson's side in pre-season and the England striker believes there is every chance of success at Craven Cottage. "I see Fulham as a massive club," he said. "One that can achieve great things. They have been in the Premier League for a long time now. "The club are established at this level and there's real quality here, great footballers like Jimmy Bullard, Simon Davies and Danny Murphy. The gaffer has bought in top players like Bobby Zamora and Zoltan Gera and we've already beaten Arsenal this season. "For the last couple of seasons the club have been looking behind them at the relegation places - but I really think we can look in the opposite direction this season." Johnson may be given another chance to open his account for the Cottagers in Tuesday night's Carling Cup clash with Burnley, while Hodgson is yet to decide whether to play Jimmy Bullard after the midfielder was on the receiving end of two heavy challenges at the weekend. Blackburn duo Keith Andrews and Brett Emerton were booked at Ewood Park on Saturday for tackles on Bullard, with the hosts accused of targeting the player who received a surprise England call-up during the last international break. Hodgson has the option of utilising his squad for the clash at Turf Moor or field his strongest possible line-up for the competition in which Fulham have never got further than the quarter-finals, the last time being three years ago when they were knocked out by neighbours Chelsea. They go into the match on the back of a defeat at Blackburn that ended their run of three wins in a row, with Hodgson impressed with the progress made this season. "I can't really criticise the players for the performance. It's a big disappointment but we're going to have disappointments, we're not going to steam our way forward to the top of the table, we've just got to pick ourselves up, keep playing the right football and getting as many points as we can," said Hodgson. Midfielder Leon Andreasen has recovered from a groin strain and is ready to return after being an unused substitute at the weekend. Dickson Etuhu could make his debut. |