Fulham drew 1-1 with Derby County in the Championship last night.
Scott Parker took his side to Pride Park yesterday looking to close a three-point gap to Leeds United in second.
They'd made up an 11 point deficit to the top-two with some good wins over the festive period, but a 3-0 defeat at home to bottom-club Barnsley last weekend allowed Leeds to reopen the gap with a win over Bristol City.
Speaking to www.fulhamfc.com after the game, Parker was pleased to take a point back down to London:
"For large parts we had a real control about us and dominated. I felt like first half we had a lot of control but lacked a little bit of impetus.
“But in saying that, we’re coming to a place where they’ve lost two all year, they’re second in the league for home form, so we knew it would be a tough place."
After a goalless first-half, Derby took the lead soon after the restart through Wayne Rooney. England's all-time leading goalscorer, and an ex-England teammate of Parker's, converted from the spot.
Tim Ream handled the ball inside his own penalty box and Rooney, on his 500th appearance in English League football, scored with a Panenka to take his Rams tally to three in the Championship.
“Their goal comes out of nothing really, and then after that my team showed unbelievable character, unbelievable mentality, something which we’ve struggled with this year at times when we’ve gone a goal down," explained Parker.
“But I saw a team that wanted to get back in the game, and then at 1-1 there’s some big chances that fall our way, and it’s a different story if they go in."
Fulham equalised through Aleksandar Mitrovic in the 71st-minute, the Serb with his 22nd Championship goal of the season, but have goalkeeper Marek Rodak to thank for the win.
He claimed the Man of the Match award after some top-drawer saves to keep Derby to the one goal last night.
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“Late on of course Derby come a little bit, get some corners and put us under a bit of pressure, but overall I’m pleased with the way it panned out," said Parker.
“It’s a point gained for us, we go into two home games now in a busy week, and I’m happy.”
The point keeps Fulham in 3rd-place of the Championship table, two points behind Leeds and six behind league leaders West Brom. But Parker's side could drop as low as 5th after the weekend, with only a two-point lead over both Brentford and Forest behind them.
The verdict
Fulham once again dominated the possession stats, had plenty enough chances to score, but still left with only a point. These are the types of games that have to be won by teams chasing automatic promotion, and Parker shouldn't be happy with just a point.
If they fall further down the top-six this weekend then it'll mount even more pressure on the manager - he's starting to be found out nearing the end of his first full-season in charge, and fans are getting increasingly frustrated.