Bristol City 1 Fulham 4 - Archive

James Husband believes Fulham can push for promotion - with or without him.

Boro winger Husband, 21, is playing in his second loan spell this season with the Cottagers and had a hand in three of his team's four first half goals before saying:

"If we're on song we're on a par with anyone. I think all of us think we can do something special this season, I honestly do. We're starting to get that belief a little bit now. We can beat any team as long as we do the nitty gritty stuff and work hard for each other. We're capable of beating any team in this league."

But Leeds born Husband knows his Craven Cottage stay will end before Christmas. He explained:

"I'm on loan until December 14th and then have to go back because the emergency loan deal is up. I can't come back then    until January 1st, but I'm enjoying it so much I'd love to come back - one hundred percent.

"The boys have taken to me. It's a bit different from up north. I had to tell the lads that the weather today was hot compared to the north-east. I told them if they got their shirts off they'd get a tan, but I don't think they were convinced."

Moussa Dembele scored twice in the first eighteen minutes to stun City before skipper Ross McCormack blasted in a stunning 30 yard free kick after Husband had been fouled.

Striker McCormack joked:

"One out of twenty's not bad. 

"It was further out than I first thought, but the keeper gave me a small target to aim at and fortunately it was big enough.

"This season we seem to be a bit of a one half team, but if we play like we did in the first half or as we did in the second half against Reading when we beat them last week, we'll win more than we lose.

"We played with a bit of a swagger in the first half without being over-confident. We're only four points off the play-offs now and while we are a confident bunch of lads, we're not getting carried away."

Fulham boss Kit Symons was delighted with his team's first half performance and hopes that nineteen year old Dembele who joined the club from Paris St. Germain in 2012 will soon sign a new contract to keep him at Craven Cottage. He said:

"Moussa is a player we will work on to improve. Talks over a new contract are in progress and we want him to sign. I am very hopeful it will happen. He is at the right club to develop his game because we have some good people to offer him guidance. He knows he'll get a kick up the backside when he needs it and a cuddle too."

City struggled to cope with the visitors before midfielder Ryan Tunnicliffe added the fourth goal in the 36th minute, but manager Steve Cotterill refused to condemn last season's runaway League One champions. He said:

"I haven't stripped the paint off the walls, only a Neanderthal would do that. I'm with them all the way, I'll support them all the way. They're never on the field by themselves, I'm always next to them. I was with them when we were winning last year and I'm with them even more this year when we're losing. We'll bounce back and we'll be fine."

Striker Jonathan Kodjia, 26, scored a consolation goal in the dying seconds and Cotterill said:

"He's a great boy, but he's a work in progress like the whole squad at this level."