Tuesday 28 March 2017 08:48, UK
Scott Malone tells Sky Sports how a mix of hard work and talent have propelled Fulham into promotion contention in the Championship...
Fulham have earned a reputation as one of the most stylish sides in the Championship this season under the management of Slavisa Jokanovic. But behind the possession, passing and slick attacking play is an underlying commitment to hard work.
Scott Malone is just one of the players thriving in that environment the Serbian manager has created on the banks of the Thames in west London.
Named in the EFL team of the season last week, the 25-year-old can claim to be the best left-back in the Championship. It's a title he's proud of.
But, as Malone tells Sky Sports, the honour was only possible because of the blend of off-field commitment he's had to show in the past and the successful system set out by his Fulham boss, who has overseen the club's rise to seventh in the Championship, one point off the play-offs.
"I've been working towards it for two to three seasons," the 2016 summer signing from Cardiff says, after a "very hard" session at Fulham's Motspur Park training ground during the international break.
"About three or four years ago I was getting little niggles and injuries which hindered me a little bit. But two summers ago, when I was at Cardiff, I only had a week and a half off before going back into the gym to do leg strength work.
"Since then, I haven't had a lower limb injury. The work I did that off-season has really helped me in the past two seasons. But so has the type of football we play at Fulham.
"That was one of the reasons why I decided to come here last summer. I saw the work the boss did at Watford, when they were one of the best sides to get out of the Championship in the last four or five years.
"If you look at our stats this season, they show we should be near the top of the league. If we could cut out some of the individual mistakes we could easily be third or fourth, but if someone at the start of the season had offered us seventh with eight to play, we'd have taken that."
Indeed, it's been a significant shift in fortunes for Fulham this season compared to their struggles in 2015/16, when they finished just a couple of places above the relegation zone.
An overhaul of the squad ahead of this campaign meant just eight players were remaining in the camp from last season. But - thanks to that recurring combination of talent and tenacity - Jokanovic has the capital club back on the right path.
Fulham are the leading team in the Championship for possession and passing accuracy, while only table-topping Newcastle have scored more goals.
"We work hard at it," says Malone. "We do a lot of possession-based training, a lot of shape work with the ball going forward, patterns of play. The pre-season was quite tough, too.
"I arrived at the club half way through pre-season but the two weeks before, the lads said it was the toughest they'd had. So the base fitness that the boss puts down before we even touch a ball has a positive effect.
"But if you look at the players in the team, the club have recruited really well. Stefan Johansen and Kevin McDonald have done really well, while the four full-backs help the style, too.
"We have to defend first and foremost but the boss likes his wide men to tuck in and for us full-backs to go round the outside. It's worked well.
"Barring Bristol City at home, I don't think any team has beaten us playing football this year. We've beaten ourselves mainly, giving away sloppy goals. I gave away two penalties at Norwich, and it has been individual errors which have cost us points this season.
"But we'd have taken this situation and it gives us a great platform to work off now. We've gelled pretty quickly."
Fulham's impressive campaign has earned them plenty of admirers. Sixteen-year-old Ryan Sessegnon has caught the eye in particular.
The left-back, who has also played on the wing this year, is tipped for a bright future in the game and Malone has been impressed by his teenage team-mate.
"Sess is a great kid," he says. "He didn't say a lot at the start of the season, but he's starting to come out of his shell now and get involved more.
"He's a great athlete for 16. What an athlete. On the training pitch, the running tests we do in pre-season and through the season, he's pretty much top of all of them.
It's quite frightening to think how good Ryan Sessegnon will be even at 18, 19.
"He's quite calm, as well. He plays the game like he's been playing for six or seven years in the Championship. It's quite frightening to think how good he'll be even at 18, 19.
"If he keeps working hard like he is doing, keeps getting minutes on the pitch then I don't think it will be too long before he's in the Premier League, to be honest."
From young prospects to new signings, that mix of skill and industry is reaping rewards for Fulham. They seem sure to be right in the mix as the race for a play-off spot in the Championship heads into the final straight.
Season Tickets for Fulham FC's 2017/18 campaign are now available to purchase with prices frozen until Monday 10 April. For further information or to purchase, visit: www.fulhamfc.com/seasontickets
Follow the Sky Bet EFL action with our live blogs and watch match highlights from each game on skysports.com and the Sky Sports apps.
