Hodgson: We had desire

Fulham showed character to come from behind

By Hayley Paterson   Last updated: 6th January 2008

Moritz Volz David Healy celeb Fulham v Bristol Rovers

Healy: Scored first equaliser

Related links

Teams

Players

Also see

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson said his players should not feel ashamed for their 2-2 FA Cup draw against League One Bristol Rovers.

"Sometimes you have to look a little bit beyond results and see exactly what happened," the former Inter Milan coach said.

"All I've said to the players is that they have no reason to feel ashamed of that performance in any way.

"They have done well to come back twice from being a goal behind - especially after the cold shower of being one down after only two minutes.

"I know some people will look at the result and say Fulham have been held to a draw by a League One team but what I saw was players showing a strong attitude and commitment, a desire to try to play their way back.

"A foundation, to some extent, was laid that I can work on. Nobody is under any illusions about an awful lot of work to be done and it is not going to be put right day-to-day. It will take a period of time.

Set-plays

Fulham failed to deal with Bristol Rovers' set-plays - which led to both goals from Danny Coles and Craig Hinton.

Hodgson said: "Today we couldn't clear a throw-in that bounced around the area and a straightforward free-kick in the air. We are not a big team but we've got to do something about that.

"But I never saw a scenario where we would lose the game and the way we played for 20 minutes before the first equaliser I thought we would continue and come out winners in the second half.

"Obviously the players are lacking confidence and have been taking a lot of stick for their performances but they kept trying to do the right things and that's important."