While promotion is the aim for Fulham this season, Fulham coach Slavisa Jokanovic reiterated that taking it one game at a time is the best way for Fulham to achieve that goal.
Plenty of bookmakers have made the Whites one of the Sky Bet Championship favourites, but our Head Coach knows the competition will be fierce this term.
“Half the Championship teams have similar intentions to us,” he said in Friday’s pre-match press conference. “I know this is a popular question from the press, where we’re going to finish in the Championship.
“Really, I don’t know where we’re going to be at the beginning of May. What is important for us is to try and be at our highest level in this moment, and try and push hard to win three points tomorrow.
“These three points could be important points for us at the end of the season. We must be positive, we must believe in our possibilities, and push hard to be successful.
“The final target for us, like the final target for half the Championship, is to be a promoted team. Whether we are going to do it or not will depend on us, and we are going to know at the end of the season.
“Pressure is part of our life. I have pressure to be successful, I have pressure for my team to play better football than they played before, I have pressure to win the game.
“Everything is normal, similar pressure for other coaches in the Championship or in the Premier League, or all the coaches in the world.”
The summer has seen six players join the Club, and Jokanovic is satisfied with how his squad is shaping up.
“We built an identity, we built a team,” he explained. “I am very happy because the Club made a great effort to sign new contracts with Tom Cairney and Ryan Sessegnon.
“I am very happy because we brought back Tomas Kalas and Lucas Piazon. We signed some people, the transfer window is open until the end of August, I believe we are going to bring in some more for our squad.
“I am happy with my team. The players are working hard and showing ambition to try and make a good season, and we are ready for the Norwich game.”
Aboubakar Kamara is the latest addition to the side, and his Jokanovic is excited about what the striker can bring to the team.
“Kamara is a young player who’s shown great ambition,” he stated. “He’s strong and fast and all of us expect he’s going to be an important player for us in the future.
“All the people need time to adapt themselves to a different lifestyle, a different competition. He’s really a different player, a player who can attack the space behind the defenders, and he can be a very important player for us.”
Saturday’s opponents Norwich City will be another outfit fighting hard to return to the top flight, and Jokanovic envisages a stern test against Daniel Farke’s men.
“Norwich are one of the teams, like us, who want to be a Premier League team next season,” he said. “They are a quality team with many important players.
“I remember the last game we played at Craven Cottage against them and the many problems that [Cameron] Jerome gave us. We must be careful about many players.
“We checked their pre-season, they used different styles, with three at the back, sometimes four at the back. We have an idea of what we can expect tomorrow in the game.
“It’s a new coach, extra motivation for the Norwich players too, but we are motivated to play in our stadium in front of our supporters. We showed them in the past we can play good football and we want to repeat that, or be at a better level if possible.”