Etuhu hoping for Hodgson stay

Fulham midfielder Dickson Etuhu is hoping Roy Hodgson will remain at the club.

The Nigerian is full of praise for Hodgson, who has transformed the Cottagers since taking charge in 2007.

Hodgson's biggest achievement has been guiding the Cottagers to the Europa League final, where they lost in extra-time to Atletico Madrid.

Speaking after their defeat to the Spanish side, Etuhu was quick to heap praise on his manager.

"I want him to stay but in football you can't control what happens and to be honest we are not bothered about that at the moment. The gaffer is a great manager and he has done so much for every player, he improved us all, got us playing great football and he got us to the final," Etuhu told Sky Sports News.

Never changes

"I don't know many better managers than him at the moment, and it would be hard to take, but I hope he stays.

"He never changes the way we play, we stick to how we train - everyone knows their job - which we practice every day and every week, it is almost perfect, and people can see that when we play, and that is down to the manager. The players have to go out and perform and it has been great."

Etutu admits everyone in the Fulham camp is still coming to terms with defeat following Diego Forlan's extra-time winner in Hamburg.

"Everybody is taking it all in," he said. "It hasn't been easy getting so far and then losing the goal in the last minutes, who knows what could have happened with penalties but we have to take positives out of the game and the final.

"It felt like we could have won the game and obviously we are disappointed, nobody expected us to get that far but it is fate."