Coleman calls for substance over style as Fulham strive for points

Coleman is convinced his side have deserved more, but the pain of seeing Fulham in the relegation zone is too much to bear and he has demanded a win of any sort at The Valley. "I can sit here all day and say how well we are playing and that it is all good attacking football - but we are not getting the points," Coleman said.

"I don't care how they come now, we just need the points. We have only played eight games, but I don't like looking at the table and seeing my team in the bottom three. It's not a nice place to be. We can't make excuses. I know we have been playing well; the players know we have been playing well; the supporters know we have been playing well; the chairman knows we have been playing well, but we are third from bottom. We shouldn't be there and we need to change that."

Coleman has had the luxury of an extra two days with his players following the international break, and he has spent the time instilling a mean streak into a defence that has been too prone to sloppy mistakes. But given Fulham's predicament, two extra days was still not enough given he had been without the majority of his squad for a fortnight.

"It's been difficult because you look at the league table and you are bottom three and you can't do anything about it," Coleman said. "Two weeks in football is a long time and the players have been frustrated. But we have a chance at Charlton to do something about it and put some points on the board."