Fulham failed to gain ground on the Championship's top two on Saturday as they only managed a 1-1 draw with Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

An 84th-minute Tom Cairney equaliser ensured the Whites came away with at least a point, but the result leaves them six points adrift of the automatic promotion places.

Nahki Wells opened the scoring for the Robins with a neat back post header, but Scott Parker will have been disappointed with the way the ball reached the former Burnley man.

With nine matches to play Fulham will need to start picking up more wins, having won just two of their last six matches, and face tough fixtures against Brentford and Leeds United over the next 10 days.

Here, we look at three things we learned from Saturday's game.

Fulham fail to make dominance count

Fulham were definitely the side on top on Saturday, creating more chances and dominating possession.

Bobby Decordova-Reid was particularly wasteful on his return to his old club, missing three presentable chances to put his side ahead.

With only five of their 19 shots hitting the target, Parker will also hope to see his side's shooting improve as they look to capitalise better on their advantage.

Sloppy defending costs points

While Fulham were the side on top, the Robins still managed to create a number of chances and had eight shots on target in total.

Wells' goal was a particular example of their defensive weakness on the day, with Parker's side wasting multiple opportunities to clear the ball before it fell to a grateful Wells.

Fulham have been solid defensively in general this season, but it proved their undoing on Saturday and cost them two points.

Cairney at his best

Cairney has been one of Fulham's best players for a few seasons now and showed why on Saturday.

With three key passes, four completed dribbles, 72 completed passes at 86% accuracy, three shots and one goal, he put in an excellent all-round performance and was at the centre of most of Fulham's good play.

His goal was also brilliantly taken, with the midfielder perfectly placing a left-footed effort from the edge of the area into the bottom corner.