Davies heaps praise on Hodgson

Fulham midfielder Simon Davies has paid tribute to Roy Hodgson for the way he led the Cottagers to Premier League safety.

Hodgson: Hailed by Davies
Hodgson: Hailed by Davies

Fulham's 1-0 victory over Portsmouth last Sunday saw them achieve one of the most amazing survival feats the top flight has ever seen.

Wales international Davies, who was ready to stay at Fulham if they went down, believes Hodgson's style was the key to their success.

"We were written off by everyone really," said Davies. "We stuck together as a group and kept our heads down. We always believed we could do it.

"To produce the results and comeback is really incredible - I really can't believe it myself.

"At Man City at half-time, I don't know what the odds would have been on us beating them, and then winning three on the bounce away from home - it's incredible. Everyone deserves a massive pat on the back.

"It's difficult when you're bottom of the league because there are pressure games every weekend.

"Everyone's edgy and you can't really get a flowing rhythm to the game. At the bottom, every mistake you make you get punished for.

"The manager came in and got us playing and he told us to trust our ability. We got that win against Reading, which was a really big one, and went on from there.

"We've got a lot of good footballers at the club and we like to get the ball down and play around teams.

"The manager's tried to get the best out of us and we've played some excellent football at times in high pressure situations. Sunday wasn't our best game as it was a bit scrappy but we showed resilience."

Davies now believes Fulham can take the momentum of those final weeks of the season into the new campaign.

"Once everything gets settled down I think we can take the momentum into next season because the last few weeks, winning games, that we haven't done for a long time," said Davies.

"We've got to keep that belief. When we meet up again in July to play in the Premier League we will believe that we can win games. When the new season starts we'll be ready for it."

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