Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic said his half-time double substitution made all the difference against Charlton – and admitted he got his starting line-up wrong.
The Whites won 3-0 at Craven Cottage but had problems before and after Tom Cairney’s first-half opener.
Jokanovic responded by sending on Chris Baird, who returned to Fulham this week on loan from Derby, and Michael Madl.
Baird, a fans favourite from his six-year spell at the club, shored things up in midfield and recent loan signing Madl marked his home debut with a goal.
The outstanding Cairney netted his second and his team’s third to complete what turned out to be a resounding victory.
Jokanovic said: “It was a good win for us. We scored three goals, made another clean sheet, scored from set-pieces and with Chris we found a balance – that was the good news.
“The bad news was that in the first 45 minutes I wasn’t very happy. They were counter-attacking us and I take responsibility for that, because the players tried more or less what I asked.
“We scored a goal and started winning, but I wasn’t happy. I tried to find solutions, played a different way to find the balance and we played better football.”
There was also praise for Cairney, whose second goal – a terrific volley from near the edge of the penalty area – capped a fine display.
“He is a quality player,” Jokanovic said. “We’ve started using him more in the middle and we think he can offer us more things in this position.”
This post was last modified on 20/02/2016