Fulham manager Martin Jol defended his decision to replace striker Mladen Petric with midfielder Mahamadou Diarra during the 1-0 win at home to Aston Villa.
With the visitors controlling the midfield and on course to pick up a point at Craven Cottage, Jol opted to make the change.
And his decision was vindicated when Chris Baird’s late goal gave the Whites all three points.
Jol said: “It looked a bit negative to take a striker off but it was necessary for the balance of the team.
“Sometimes it works against you if you’ve got two number nines in your team and you can’t get the ball to them – if they can’t do anything creative then you have to think about the balance of the team.
“Villa had more balance with the 4-4-2 diamond so I had to repair that, to bring the balance in midfield. After Diarra came on I felt we started to play.”
Jol admitted his side were fortunate to beat Villa but praised them for grinding out a victory.
Baird, on his 200th career league appearance, flicked home John Arne Riise’s corner five minutes from time.
“I thought we played really well in the first 15 minutes but after that they had too much possession for my liking,” said Jol.
“In the first half we were very good with the ball but in the second half we didn’t play well enough to say three points were deserved.
“It was a result that was ground out but I don’t care – we needed the points.”
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This post was last modified on 20/10/2012