fot: soccernet.com

Fulham's players paid tribute to their manager Roy Hodgson after Wednesday's Europa League final defeat, insisting that his continued stewardship is vital for the club to build on their successful season.

Hodgson has taken many of the plaudits for his side's incredible European journey, though he has consistently tried to deflect the attention away from himself and onto his players.

But despite attempting to focus once again on the players' achievements after the Cottagers' 2-1 loss to Atletico Madrid, those who have played under him insisted on praising their boss.

Defender Chris Smalling, who was an unused substitute on Wednesday and will now move on to pastures new this summer with Manchester United, believe Hodgson has been an integral part of his rapid ascent from non-league player to Old Trafford signing.

"He's been instrumental ever since the first day I came here," Smalling told Soccernet. "When I played my first trial game in the summer he was there coming after the game and having a chat - he's very much looked after me

"I think these [European fixtures] are definitely the sort of nights that all the hard work on the training ground pays off. The atmosphere is immense and hopefully these are the nights that I can look forward too."

Left-back Paul Konchesky, who played the full 120 minutes at the Hamburg Arena, also hailed Hodgson's influence, and admitted that he is keeping his fingers crossed that his boss is still at the helm next season.

"I think we will get over it and bounce back even stronger," Konchesky said. "We've been together all season and done really well and hopefully this disappointment won't be the end of us.

"[Keeping Hodgson is] a big factor for the players and for the club - he's done well for the last two and a half years that he's been here. Hopefully we can keep him and kick on again next year."

Dickson Etuhu could not hide his disappointment with the result and believed that the difference between the two sides was the front-line.

"Of course it is a hard one take, very very hard to take, but that's football and we've done well to get this far, we just have to learn from it,"Etuhu said. "It's a great experience for the lads, a great experience for me but the difference was the strikers; they had predators in front of goal and he got their goals.

"They've got great players, top top players worth millions and millions of pounds and you saw that when it mattered. They were far from the best side we've played this season in Europe and twenty minutes into the second half I thought 'we could win this' because we were on top of them and spent a lot of time in their half - but we didn't take the opportunities to get the goal then."

And Etuhu added his voice to those in the squad who believe Hodgson staying is essential for Fulham to progress.

"There's talk about clubs interested in him but we want him to stay," Etuhu said. "He's a great manager, we love him around the place and you can see that by the way we play."

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Added by: Anthony Bein

źródło: soccernet.com

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