Can Fulham Get Into The Automatic Promotion Places?

The gruelling Championship season has only just gone past its halfway stage, but already Fulham find themselves playing catch up if they want to finish in the top two of the division. There is a ten-point gap between Scott Parker’s side and West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United, but the unpredictability of the Championship means that there is still a lot to play for.

Neil Warnock recently spoke about the strength of the squad that Fulham has, and that the only reason why they aren’t in the top two is that they haven’t been able to get a run of consistent results. The former Cardiff manager does have a point, as West Brom and Leeds have only lost six games between them this season. Meanwhile, Fulham have lost on eight occasions.

Finding Consistency

The biggest concern for Parker regarding the fight for automatic promotion is that the club have found it hard to get a run of victories. They have only gone on to win back-to-back league games on three occasions so far this season. They also went on a run of drawing three games on the bounce, which put them behind in the battle for automatic places.

Finding the winning pattern will be crucial for Fulham in the second half of the season. They could use Aston Villa’s late resurgence at the end of last season as the blueprint, as Villa won ten games on the bounce to get into the playoffs, despite being in the bottom half of the table at the beginning of that run. If Villa can do it, so can Fulham.

The oddsmakers certainly hasn’t ruled out Fulham being promoted, as they remain among the favourites. If you fancy your chances to bet on them to get to Premier League next season, go to BestAppBet and check which bookmaker gives them the best odds.

Keeping Hold Of Star Striker

The most important factor that could play a significant role in the remainder of Fulham’s season is being able to keep hold of Aleksandar Mitrovic. The Serbian remained loyal at the end of the season by staying with the club, but Fulham’s resolve could be tested in the winter window, with some clubs on the lookout for a new forward.

Keeping their club captain could be the biggest piece of business that they do in the transfer window because if they lose him, their chances of promotion would be going out of the door with him. He has already scored 18 goals in his 25 appearances in the Championship this season, and he is the heartbeat of the team. His goals will be vital for their promotion push, and they can’t afford to lose him.

Leaky Defence

Parker will need to sort out the defence if they have hopes of securing a place in the top two because at present they have the worst defensive record out of the top six. They have conceded 30 goals so far this season, which is ten less than the league’s best of 20 set by Brentford. This has been an issue that has cost Fulham valuable points over the last couple of weeks, as they conceded five goals in three games during the festive period.

That isn’t the typical defensive record that you would come to expect from a team looking at getting promoted at the end of the season. Parker will need to amend that. It looks unlikely that he will have resources available to him in the transfer window, which means that he will have to make use of what he has. That could mean adapting to a back three or possibly putting extra tasks on the midfielders. Either way, it is something that must be addressed.

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