Steed back in harness

Chris Coleman today saluted Steed Malbranque's renaissance after the Frenchman put his recent problems behind him to produce a match-winning performance.

Malbranque, who stormed out of Craven Cottage after he failed to make the substitutes' bench for the Everton match, scored twice to earn Fulham a 3-1 victory at Blackburn.

"He came back with a perfect response," said the Fulham manager. "He was a different player to what we have seen of late. It was a great performance, a gutsy performance. We know about his passing, that he can take players on and he's got great technique.

"But he approached the game in the way that we should be approaching all our games. And he got the two goals which capped off a fantastic display for him."

Malbranque's strikes, either side of the interval, were sandwiched by a Brian McBride goal as Fulham recorded their first away win for three months.