Fulham face ‘biggest challenge for years’

Rene Meulensteen has admitted Fulham are in a grave situation after a 3-0 home defeat against Southampton left them bottom of the Premier League.

The Whites head coach looked dejected after his side crumbled to an eight league defeat of the campaign at Craven Cottage.

And he declared that the club now faces its “biggest challenge for many, many years” as their 13-year stay in the top flight is under threat.

“You won’t find a more disappointed group of players,” he said.

“We know how important our home games are and I had great hopes for the game. But you saw the effect the first goal had on the team, because we conceded two more.

“This is the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced and it’s the biggest challenge Fulham have faced for many, many years.”

The Whites dropped to the foot of the table after fellow strugglers West Ham and Cardiff grabbed rare victories at home.

“It is very hard to see that other teams are winning but we just can’t rely on other teams,” Meulensteen said.

“We have to keep the energy in the team. We cannot afford to lay down and feel sorry for ourselves.

“I believe the players have enough character to raise themselves up and I certainly hope we have the quality to stay in the Premier League.

“But we can only answer that when we’ve had a period where we can really assess things with the new players playing for us, and I have high hopes for that.”

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