Fulham manager Scott Parker is hoping to again use the Carabao Cup as a means of returning to winning ways.
Fulham travel to Brentford for our Fourth Round tie on Thursday, keen to respond to the disappointment of the Aston Villa defeat.
“It’s a good opportunity for us,” Parker told fulhamfc.com.
“The Cup’s been good for us in that sense, after some poor results – I wouldn’t put it down as poor performances – poor results, it gives us a good chance to go out and play in a very competitive game against a very good team to keep working on the things we need to work on.
“It gets players minutes, but we also want to try and get a result.”
The match comes less than two months after the sides met in the Championship Play-Off Final, and Parker knows the Brentford players will want to give a reaction after their Wembley heartbreak.
“They’re obviously going to be motivated, it was a big disappointment for them after a very good season,” he stated.
“We both got to the final hurdle and one of us had to have that disappointment, and thankfully it was Brentford.
“They’ll have the bit between their teeth, maybe something to prove, so it is going to be a tough game.”
Aside from replacing Ollie Watkins with Ivan Toney, it’s much the same Brentford side that we faced at the beginning of August.
“They’re very similar, they’ve not changed a lot,” Parker explained. “Nine times out of 10, the players who are brought in for each position in their squad are normally quite similar, so Toney is very similar to Watkins.
“We know from last year the quality Brentford possess. They’re a very good team, and I don’t see anything different now.
“They’ve lost Watkins, but other than that their squad has stayed together.
“It’s a very, very good squad and a very good team, and it’s going to be a tough game for us, but one we’re looking forward to. We need to get back on it and go again.”
Having made a flying start to his Fulham career, Kenny Tete’s forced withdrawal on Monday was a big blow.
The severity of his injury remains to be seen, while Parker will also be missing a couple of midfielders this week.
“Kenny’s just had a scan so we’re waiting on the results of that to see exactly where he is, and we’ll go from there,” he revealed.
“Mario Lemina and Harrison Reed have both picked up injuries as well so Brentford is definitely too early for them, maybe Wolves is as well.”