Shane Clancy
Claudio Ranieri claimed his Fulham team are ready for a difficult fixture with Chelsea in the Premier League this weekend.
Fulham won only their second game of the season last weekend in Ranieri’s first match in charge. They beat Southampton 3-2 at Craven Cottage and now Ranieri feels they have put in the preparation work for their London derby at Stamford Bridge.
“We’re ready,” Ranieri told his pre-match press conference.
“We’re always ready. I asked for little things at the beginning, like fighting spirit, but we can do everything better.”
The former Chelsea and Leicester City boss mentioned the importance of last week’s win in building confidence and how it has changed the whole mindset of the team.
“When you win, everything changes in life. The players come in happier, but now we have to forget about the last game and think about Chelsea – another difficult game for us.”
With only two points separating bottom-side Fulham from 15th-placed Huddersfield, Ranieri knows that such fine margins could condemn his team to relegation at the end of the season. They will be fighting tooth-and-nail for at least a point this weekend.