Fulham head coach Slavisa Jokanovic would have liked to have ended pre-season with a win, but expects Fulham to up their game against Norwich City next week.
Fulham were beaten 3-0 by Bundesliga outfit VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday, although they did match their high-profile opponents for large chunks of the game.
“It’s always positive to finish pre-season with some positive results, but [next] Saturday we’re going to forget this game,” Jokanovic stated. “It’s always important to build the competitive and positive mentality.
“We didn’t have that chance today, but I expect we’re going to have a chance next Saturday.
“We played acceptably good football for the first hour. We conceded a very cheap Championship goal. After, we tried and tried to equalise, but they scored a second goal and at the end of the game they dominated us.
“The result is completely fair. This was our last test, and I expect us to be at a better level next Saturday when we’re going to start the season against Norwich.”
The midfield trio of Tom Cairney, Kevin McDonald and Neeskens Kebano sat out the encounter, while Marcus Bettinelli was withdrawn in the first half.
Jokanovic, though, remains optimistic that all four will be fit for the Championship opener against the Canaries.
“I expect they’re going to be available for Saturday’s game,” he revealed. “These were three of our more important players last season, and I’m sure we can be better with them.
They have small problems, and we didn’t want to take any risks for this game.
“[Bettinelli] was a little bit scared about his hamstring, and we expect he is going to be available for the next game.”