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Hodgson: no encouragement

They've got to believe they can stay up, but to all intents and purposes, Fulham have gone.

Matt Le Tissier
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• Fulham 0-2 Liverpool

Fulham 0-2 Liverpool
Soccer Saturday anlaysis

The mathematics might not have confirmed it yet, but Matt Le Tissier told Soccer Saturday Fulham's fight for survival is up.

A 2-0 home defeat by a weakened Liverpool side left Roy Hodgson's side languishing second from bottom in the Premier League, five points from safety.

Goals in either half from Jermaine Pennant and Peter Crouch, as much as Bolton's shock win at Middlesbrough did the damage.

Manager Hodgson admitted his side need to win at least two of their three remaining games to avoid joining Derby in the Championship next season but in reality, says Le Tissier, they have no chance.

"They've got to believe they can stay up, but to all intents and purposes, Fulham have gone," he said.

"You never give up the ghost as long as it's mathematically possible but in terms of what I've seen from Fulham - and this was Liverpool's second string make no bones about that - they didn't really come close to getting in the game.

They went behind fairly early on, Jermaine Pennant with a cracking finish, and from that point on you couldn't fault Fulham for their effort, but in terms of quality and the amount of chances they actually created in open play, there was very little to encourage Roy Hodgson.

"They had a couple of shots deflected, a couple of mis-hits here and there but in terms of clear-cut chances they created very little and Liverpool - even with their reserves out - were fairly comfortable throughout the 90 minutes."

As for Liverpool, the day could not have gone better.

With Chelsea coming up in the Champions League, Rafa Benitez made eight changes and still saw his side move eight points clear of Everton in the race for fourth place.

And with Bolton winning, he was spared a tongue-lashing from the other managers fighting down the bottom with Fulham.

"Rafa Benitez has obviously managed to rest his better players for the game in midweek and they've still come and taken three points from the game, so Gary Megson can have no complaints," said Le Tissier.