Head coach Rene Meulensteen insisted Fulham had not yet turned the corner despite their crucial win over fellow strugglers West Ham.
The 2-1 victory on New Year’s Day was the Whites’ third league win since Meulensteen took charge and it lifted them out of the relegation zone.
But the Dutchman said: “The key for us is that we got three points and are out of the bottom three and the fans will be delighted with that.
“That doesn’t mean we’ve turned the corner, and I said that after the win at Norwich too.
“It’s a really good follow-up from the trend we’re creating here, and we’re looking confident going into the next run of games. Hopefully it will be the start of a happy new year.”
Kevin Nolan was sent off for West Ham just before half-time and Meulensteen admitted it had a huge affect on the game’s outcome.
He said: “The sending-off helped us. There was more space, we had more possession and when the opposition goes down to 10 men it’s important to find the right balance between being patient and creating chances.
“When we get into positions to win in home games it’s very important that we do. We started well but to concede an early goal like that was not in our plans.
“But the players reacted well. They kept on playing – credit to them.”
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This post was last modified on 02/01/2014