Preston 1-2 Fulham: Simon Grayson and Slavisa Jokanovic reaction
Wednesday 6 April 2016 09:48, UK
Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic insists his side are far from safe even after they moved seven points clear of the Championship relegation zone with a 2-1 victory over Preston on Tuesday.
Moussa Dembele's second-half effort proved to be the winner - extending Fulham's unbeaten run away from home to four games and all but ending Preston's slim hopes of a play-off place.
The win lifts Fulham up to 19th - seven points and three positions clear of MK Dons in the final relegation place.
"We are not safe. With six games in front of us, now it's six points we don't have reason to think about a holiday," said Jokanovic.
"We need to do much for our away supporters who travel with us and push us towards safety.
"It's not time for holiday, we need to give these people something back because we haven't given them too many happy afternoons. We can fix that in these six games ahead of us.
"In this situation that we are in the only important thing for us is the points."
Dembele's strike was Fulham's 29th away goal this season - a league high. And Jokanovic admits his side's attacking talents are getting them out of trouble.
"We didn't play a brilliant game but we play like a team and in the end we were a little bit lucky and we had the quality in front of goal for scoring the goals that we always make," he added. "This is Fulham. We have our strengths and weakness and one of the strengths is the more offensive players.
"Ross (McCormack) and Moussa give us many many points and many goals. Preston pressed and were very solid and very strong.
"It was good for us to be solid. We were fighting all together and we find the points we need which is more important at the moment for us."
Meanwhile, Preston boss Simon Grayson was left scratching his head as to just how his side had slipped to their first home defeat since January 23.
"It was a frustrating night. Sometimes in games you don't get what you deserve," he said. "I thought that was the case tonight. We were the better team, created the better chances.
"They got the early goal but we passed the ball better and there was only one team looking to win the game. We weren't helped by some of the tactics they used at times.
"The players worked extremely hard all night but it just didn't break for us. You can't win every match but if you lose one you've got to make sure you give everything and we've done that today.
"McCormack and Dembele are the hottest property in the division but they are down near the bottom for a reason. They haven't got all the components right and massively underachieved, they should be nowhere near the bottom four or five.
"It's a travesty that we haven't got anything out of the game but that's football."
