Fulham legend Gordon Davies has admitted that he is surprised that his former side are still in the hunt for automatic promotion given their eratic form.

The Whites were beaten 3-0 by relegation favourites Barnsley at Craven Cottage on Saturday but remained in third and just three points behind Leeds United.

“We have been consistently inconsistent this year," Davies, who is Fulham's record goalscorer, said in an interview with Love Sport Radio.

"It’s surprising when we haven’t played particularly magical football that we were still fourth in the league when we haven’t really hit any sort of form.

“Nobody is running away with the league, but everybody would’ve expected Fulham to be either where West Brom is or 12, 15, 18 points in front of everybody else and walking away with the league because of the squad we’ve got and the depth of the quality."

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Cauley Woodrow gave the vistors the lead in the first half after Marek Rodak had brought down Jacob Brown in the Fulham penalty area, the striker stepping up to net his 12th of the season.

Things got worse for Fulham in the second half when Brown was set through on goal by Woodrow again, clipping the ball past the onrushing Rodak and into the bottom corner.

It was Woodrow who rounded things off with just ten minutes remaining as well, finding space on the left hand side before eventually lashing the ball home.

The verdict

It is hard to disagree with Davies here, but it is just as damning of the rest of the league as it is of Fulham.

Yes the Whites have been inconsistent and with the players at their disposal should probably be leading the way, but the fact that nobody else has managed to pull significantly away from them yet is also telling.

Considering this is Parker's first season in management, I think he will be pretty pleased with how things have gone, especially with some big players and big personalities in his dressing room.

How they bounce back from this defeat on Friday night will perhaps be the most important factor in where they end up in May.