Jol praises ´different´ Berbatov

Martin Jol has hailed Dimitar Berbatov’s contribution to Fulham’s 2-1 win over West Brom on New Year’s Day.

The Cottagers had been without a win in four games but dispatched Steve Clarke’s men at the Hawthorns thanks to goals from Berbatov and Alexander Kacaniklic.

Jol had criticised his Bulgarian striker after he picked up a booking in the Boxing Day defeat to Swansea for removing his shirt in celebration.

However, he had nothing but praise for the 31-year-old after his goalscoring performance against the Baggies.

He told Sky Sports: “(Berbatov) is different, people criticise him because he’s not always great, but he’s always angry with himself so that is another way to look at it.

“He wants us to win, he wants us to do well and to pass it. I’m very happy with him, but he’s not the only player, we’ve got some good players the only thing is away from home against a team like West Brom you need all the quality and all the attitude and that is what we showed today.

“We started off very bright, we kept possession, we pressurised their midfield early enough to get something from it first half. Second half they changed it and pushed forward, but after 20 minutes we found ourselves back into the game.

“The most important thing is the three points for us, because I think we are in a false position but you get what you deserve and the league doesn’t lie so we have to get the points to start the new year with three points is great.”

Meanwhile, West Brom manager Steve Clarke bemoaned his side’s inability to take their chances, but was quick to credit his players for the character they showed in the second half.

He said: “I don’t think we played as we can do. First half we were way off the mark. I’m not sure if it was the consequence of four games in 10 days or not.

“In the second half it was better, we did the hard work to get back into it but then we gave it away. We could not quite get the second equaliser.

“Nobody can question the character of the team. Right at the death, with a bit of luck, we would have got the goal that our second-half performance deserved.”