This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Comment’ series, this content strand is where the author of the article issues their personal opinion on the topic at hand…

Fulham were involved in quite an intriguing match on Saturday, despite the scoreline finishing goalless.

The Cottagers travelled up to Middlesbrough in a positive mood having beaten Luton at Craven Cottage in midweek.

However, they didn't get off to the best of starts at the Riverside Stadium as Marek Rodak was sent off after just 17 minutes of the fixture. This meant that Scott Parker's side had to bring off Josh Onomah for substitute keeper Marcus Bettinelli.

It was meant to be a crucial moment in the match, but Fulham produced something that they have found hard to do in past weeks and that was come out with an impressive defensive performance that showed that they do have resilience in their side.

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Parker would have been absolutely delighted with the way his side went about their business and were able to claim a well earned draw with just ten men on the pitch.

The best part about the point was that his side didn't need to hang on, and never looked uncomfortable under pressure or when they weren't in possession of the football.

This is a characteristic that many have not seen at Fulham over the past few years. Even in their promotion season, they had a tendency to concede a lot of goals and the same was happening this campaign, but the defence would have had an almighty confidence boost after that display and the resilience shown.

This could well be a massive turning point in their season, and could seriously push them on to go and get promotion to the Premier League. It's the type of result that would give belief to the whole squad and especially the backline.

Yes, Middlesbrough haven't been great so far this season, but in this division playing with ten men can be near impossible but Parker managed to allow his side to play like they had 11 which he should be credited for.

The manager also brought on Anthony Knockaert in the second-half which showed that he wasn't happy to sit with just a point in the fixture.

If Fulham are to make an immediate return to the Premier League, then they need more results like this and have to keep this defensive resilience and confidence in the coming weeks.