Meulensteen pleased with Fulham progress

Rene Meulensteen hopes victory over Aston Villa can be the turning point for Fulham as they look to escape the Premier League bottom three.

Dutchman Meulensteen replaced Martin Jol as boss in the midst of a six-game losing run in the Premier League, but hopes they can now put that behind them, having gotten back to winning ways.

Goals from Steve Sidwell and Dimitar Berbatov secured the crucial victory that moved them level on points with Crystal Palace and West Brom in the lower regions of the Premier League table.

Muelensteen hopes the three points will give them the boost in confidence lift they need to continue to climb up the table.

“Good performances build confidence, good results build confidence and the team is in very good spirits,” he said ahead of their trip to Everton on Sunday.

“It’s a process, which I’ve explained to the players. It’s not something that’s easy to turn on and off, but do the basic things right, build from there and hopefully more good results will come our way.

“It’s too early to say (if Fulham have turned a corner) but we made a good start.”

Meulensteen has been pleased with the way they have adapted to his style of coaching and expects further improvements to come.

“The players have responded really well,” he added. “What I’ve done is make sure we establish the basic ingredients for any performance which means that it’s always based on work rate and commitment.

“If that’s not there, you can be the best players in the world but you won’t get any results. That’s what I wanted to establish first.

“My style, being Dutch, is based on good possession play, but with an attacking intent.

“So hopefully, in time to come, I can blend that style into the Fulham team but, like I said, that’s a process that takes a bit of time.”