Coleman's painful lesson pays off

Chris Coleman needs no telling just how quickly things can change in football.

In the space of three weeks the Fulham manager has gone from his lowest ebb to recording the best sequence of results since he took over at Craven Cottage.

But the nadir, which ironically came against tomorrow's opponents Birmingham, when Fulham were booed off the pitch after a woeful 3-2 home defeat in late December, still rankles with Coleman.

Indeed, he admits that the poor performance against Steve Bruce's side that day will be used to motivate his men in the dressing room at St Andrews.

"This season my lowest point was probably after the Birmingham game," said Coleman. "But sometimes when things happen like that it's a good thing because we knew we had to pull our socks up and we did starting with the Crystal Palace game and since then we have been more consistent. Sometimes

you have to get so bad before everybody sits up and realises the position you are in and we seem to have done that."

Coleman said he was "a little surprised" at the Fulham fans' reaction after the Birmingham match, though he has since regained their faith. Having picked up seven points from their last three Premiership matches, Fulham are, for the first time since early in the season, within striking distance of the teams immediately above the bottom six. However, the Welshman remains circumspect about his team's prospects. He said: "In January and February we have got to work so hard to get points and get away from the bottom three and then we can start looking up but we are always looking over our shoulder.

"I know that it's nine points [between Fulham and the relegation zone] but it's still mathematically possible for all three teams to catch us so we have got to keep grinding out results, not taking anything for granted, which we were accused of in the first part of the season - and rightly so."