Fulham will ‘come out swinging’ despite ‘cruel’ Wolves defeat, Scott Parker insists

Fulham remain three points from safety after Friday’s defeat to Wolves

Fulham manager Scott Parker (AP)

Scott Parker insisted Fulham will come out fighting after Adama Traore’s last-gasp winner leaves the Cottagers three points adrift of safety.

In added time, Traore escaped down the right before firing home to secure his side’s first victory since mid-February.

Wolves striker Willian Jose had earlier been denied his first goal since joining on loan when his well-weighted header in first-half stoppage time was ruled out for an offside by Daniel Podence following a VAR review.

On their third opportunity to move out of the bottom three for the first time since December, Fulham again fell short, slumping to their fourth successive defeat.

Parker said: “It’s a tough one to take. It’s not going to be a tough one to bounce back from.

“It’s a painful one tonight and you obviously see that at the end of the game with the scenes of this team and how desperate this team are to be successful.

“I asked the team to show fight, to show desire, to leave everything on the pitch tonight and to a man, we did that. It’s a cruel side of football sometimes.

“Like a lot of these players, I’ve not just experienced painful moments in football, I’ve also experienced them in life and what’s going to be the deciding factor is, sometimes when you get put to the canvas, one of the tests of real character is to get back up and we’re going to need to do that.

“We’ve done that for large parts of this year, when the chips are down we get back up and we fight and we keep on doing that, and that’s the reason that we’re in the position we’re in.

“We find ourselves in this position where we are, but we’ve got a fighting chance because of what you see at the end of the game, a team and a group of players that are desperate. This is a group of players that feel passionately about being successful this year, and with that spirit and with that desire you’ve always got a chance.

“We will continue, painful, hurt and disappointing tonight but as always you get your guard up and you come out swinging, and that’s what we’ll do.”

PA