Hodgson praises brave comeback

Hodgson: Praised Fulham's fightback

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Fulham manager Roy Hodgson says he is proud of the way his side battled after going two goals and one down at home to West Ham.

Hodgson said his players showed fighting spirit to claw their way back into the match, and he says his side were unlucky not to come away with at least a point in a game they at times dominated.

The Fulham boss sayd his side should have been several goals ahead by the time they went behind to Carlton Cole's 41st-minute opener, and he believes Andy Johnson's sending off was what swung the pendulum in the visitors' favour.

He said: "I am disappointed, I suppose. I thought we did so well and to go two goals to nil down and have a player sent off three minutes just before half time was really a very harsh blow, I thought.

"Certainly the sending off I am disappointed about because the video shows in actual fact it's Neill who actually kicks Andy who was just attempting to block the ball. So that was very unfortunate because it made our task even harder second half.

"But even with ten men I think we continued to dominate the game and the lads did ever so well to get themselves back in it at 2-1 and make such a fight of it."

Squandered opportunities

Hodgson says he was disappoined his team had not broken the goalless first-half deadlock themselves, and he says he will rue missed chances that eventually proved costly.

"To be honest the first half was really one-way traffic and we played very, very well.

"Our attacking play was excellent but we let in two very bad goals just before half time and of course when you let in goals like that it is hard to come back from."

Some fans thought Johnson was lucky to still be on the pitch after an aggressive challenge on Herita Ilunga earlier in the half, but Hodgson defended his striker.

"I haven't seen that one close enough to be perfectly honest," he said.

"He went in hard for the ball but he is not a dirty player and I don't think it was a clear red card offense.

"But possibly if the referee was contemplating that, that it is possibly why he gave the second yellow card and we are certainly disappointed with the second yellow card because it is very clear he is trying to block the ball and as he [Neill] kicks the ball away he catches Andy Johnson."

Fulham have still never beated West Ham at Craven Cottage in the history of the Premier League, and the Fulham boss said it is the second consecutive time he leaves the fixture feeling as though his side should have shared the points.

Hodgson added: "They have certainly got a jinx on me because last year we lost one-nil to a goal which we thought should have been disallowed after really playing very well through the 90 minutes.

"Today, I can't criticise anything at all about the performance other than the fact that we gifted them two goals just before half time."