Bees sting Fulham but Cottagers boss Jokanovic tells team to forget draw agony

Posted Sunday, April 15, 2018 by PA

Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic refused to be disheartened after seeing his side concede a last-gasp equaliser at home to Brentford to lose ground in the race for automatic promotion.

Leading 1-0 through Aleksandar Mitrovic’s superb 70th-minute strike, Fulham were forced to settle for a point against their near neighbours when substitute Neal Maupay nodded home in the fourth minute of injury time.

The draw leaves Fulham in third spot in the Sky Bet Championship, a point behind second-placed Cardiff, who have a game in hand on the Cottagers. It also confirmed Wolves’ promotion.

“We dominated the game, so we must be disappointed after conceding a late goal,” said Jokanovic. “We probably lacked a bit of experience to kill the game.

“After they scored we didn’t have time to react, but this kind of situation happens in the Championship. We’re not satisfied or happy, but we must be strong and ready for the next challenge.

“I’m not a depressive man, I’m a happy man. I’m happy with how my team pushed in the second half. Brentford play very good football, too. They’re four points from the play-offs. It was normal they would push forward and try to score late in the game.

“But I don’t have time for crying and complaining. I only have time to support my team.”

Jokanovic attempted to shore things up late on when he replaced substitute winger Neeskens Kebano with another replacement, defender Cyrus Christie.

He defended his change, adding: “We needed to find a way to kill the game. I tried to help the team.”

Brentford boss Dean Smith hailed his side’s never-say-die attitude, feeling their display warranted a share of the spoils.

Smith’s team had been denied a clear penalty in the first half when Stefan Johansen blocked a Yoann Barbet free-kick with his arms in the box and the visitors had kept the hosts quiet prior to Mitrovic’s strike.

“I thought it was the least we deserved,” said Smith. “Our first-half performance was outstanding. Johansen has made a really good save from a free-kick in the box so we should have had a penalty.

“The second half was even, but then Mitrovic pulls out an unbelievable strike of Premier League quality.

“But the lads don’t give up and we thoroughly deserved the goal at the end.”

Brentford remain four points off the play-offs with three games remaining and Smith said: “There are still teams around us who have to play each other and we’ve got a big west London derby against QPR. We’ll be going all out to win that one.

“We’ve been playing catch-up since not winning for the first eight games. I’m really proud of the team. The lads don’t give up. We’re disappointed that we don’t have the points tally we feel we deserve, but we are playing catch-up after a slow start to the season.”