Hodgson won't rush to cure Fulham's ills with panic signings

13 April 2012

Roy Hodgson has ruled out making any panic buys despite admitting his Fulham squad needs reinforcements. The Craven Cottage boss has yet to make a major January signing with time running out before the transfer window closes on Monday.

Hodgson has been linked with Burnley defender Steve Caldwell and West Brom midfielder Robert Koren as he bids to plug the gap left by Jimmy Bullard's £5million move to Hull.

Hodgson said: "We're short of numbers, there's no doubt about that. With the money we've made in the transfer window, I'm pretty sure if the right player came along that money would be made available.

"We need a certain quality of player, so it's difficult, and I can't say we're on the verge of signing a player. It's easy enough to get a body or two in but I'm very concerned that might not be the right way to do things."

Kenwyne Jones celebrated signing a new £50,000-a-week, four-and-a-half-year Sunderland contract to finally ward off interest from Tottenham by scoring at the start of the second half after keeper Mark Schwarzer could only parry a fierce Djibril Cisse shot.

The margin of defeat would have been greater had Schwarzer not atoned for his role in the goal with a stunning point-blank save to deny former Fulham midfielder, Steed Malbranque.

Jones's eighth goal of the season was enough to secure a first win in five Premier League games for Sunderland. Despite their top-half placing, Fulham remain uncomfortably close to the relegation zone, five points above the bottom three. That's largely down to an appalling away record that has seen Hodgson's side fail to win away in the League for eight months, mustering just five points from 11 away games so far this season.

Hodgson said: "The away form's a concern, although we haven't lost that many. It took us a long time to win one away last season and then we won three in a row. Maybe that's what the boys are doing, they're keeping me on a knife edge.

"We showed we've got enough organisation, discipline and work-rate to survive in this league but if we continue to lose matches we're going to have to start looking over our shoulders."

Clint Dempsey came closest to scoring for Fulham with a shot on the turn from 18 yards which drifted narrowly wide shortly before the interval. And Simon Davies should have done better late on when he failed to divert Dempsey's header home from just five yards out.

Fulham missed the departed Bullard's midfield drive, with Dickson Etuhu anonymous against the club he left to move to Craven Cottage last summer and Danny Murphy strangely off the pace.

As a result, the front two of Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora were largely starved of the ball as Fulham slipped to consecutive League defeats.

Hodgson said: "It was quite a good performance but we always knew the first goal would prove to be decisive. I don't have any complaints, I can't say we were robbed because on another day we could have got something from the game."

Fulham's FA Cup fifth-round trip to Swansea on Saturday 14 February has been chosen for live coverage by ITV, with a 12.45pm kick-off.

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Hodgson won't rush to cure Fulham's ills with panic signings

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