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‘The battle is not finished’: Fulham boss urges team to treat closing matches as cup finals

Slaviša Jokanović wants his players to fight for a metaphorical trophy in ‘six cup finals’.

The Fulham manager has rallied his squad to continue their mini revival when they entertain Cardiff City tomorrow afternoon.

Consecutive 2-1 wins over fellow Championship strugglers MK Dons and Preston North End have eased some of the relegation fears but The Cottagers face a tough match at home to the promotion hopefuls.

Those wins have moved Fulham seven points above the drop zone but Jokanović knows there is still plenty of work to be done.

“We’ve played a little bit differently in these last few games,” said Jokanović. “Now we have to keep going and try to win more games in a row.

“The battle is not finished. There are six very important games in front of us. Six cup finals.

“We must have the mentality that if we beat Cardiff we will win a trophy.

“With this desire, we can make our supporters happy.”

The Bluebirds have a play-off spot in their sights so will not bow down easy and the Fulham manager has asked for the same support the home fans have shown all season.

“It’s a hard game, like always. Cardiff are competitive and organised and are fighting for the Play-Offs.

“We must start straight away, win the first tackle, and concentrate from the first second of the game.

“The fans pushed us very hard to win against MK Dons. I’m expecting something similar tomorrow, and we can offer a better performance.”

Midfielder Tom Cairney is a doubt after picking up an injury in the midweek win over Preston but Chris Baird is fit again and is expected to be included in the match day squad.

Lasse Vigen Christensen is still sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Image courtesy of Fulham FC via YouTube, with thanks

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