Hodgson Thinks Survival Possible

Of course, one should expect nothing but optimism from the club manager until or if relegation is a forgone conclusion.

While 18 points remain available for Fulham, it is going to take some victories and a few losses by other teams near the drop zone for Fulham to beat the drop.

In the past two weeks, Fulham have garned just 1 point out of six in two key "six point matches," that is matches that would have gotten them closer to their drop zone rivals, Newcastle, Bolton, Sunderland, et al. Now, with six matches remaining, Fulham are seven points from safety (six points won't do it since Birmingham has a much better goal differential). It may be possible to leapfrog Bolton, whose form of late has been dismal to say the least.

Birmingham still remains on the schedule to be played as Craven Cottage, along with Sunderland next week and Liverpool on April 19. Away games are Reading, Manchester City and Portsmouth. The biggest challenge facing the Whites is their away form. Fulham have gone almost 19 months without a win on the road. That makes their home matches even more important. In essence, Fulham cannot afford to lose two out of three home matches and need to get results in the away matches--any result, in two of three. That means Fulham can afford, realistically, no more than two losses in the next six games.

Survival is possible, but Fulham needs to find the net more frequently and they need to plug the holes in their porous defense. Brede Hangeland has been playing well, but he is but one man.