Fulham Under-23s turn their attention back to PL2 duty against Newcastle after qualifying for the round of 16 in the PL Cup last week. A stream of the game can be found on fulhamfctv from 6:45PM on Friday evening.
Mark Pembridge’s side overcame Reading Under-23s in their final PL Cup game to advance in the competition. The Young Whites go into this game on the back of three league defeats in a row, all by the solitary goal margin.
Newcastle are the visitors on Friday night at Motspur Park who have been a much-improved side since the start of the season under Ben Dawson. The Magpies have won three games on the spin and have been labelled as the most exciting team in the league having scored 39 goals and conceded 27. They currently sit fourth.
Last Time Out:
Newcastle ran out convincing 5-2 winners at the Northumberland FA Ground in October. The hosts strolled to a three-goal lead but Jayden Harris’ doubled hauled Fulham back into contention.
Two further goals from The Magpies killed the game off in a tricky evening that Mark Pembridge described as one of the only teams his side have been ‘well beaten’ by this season.
View From The Gaffer:
Mark Pembridge wants to use the PL Cup qualification as a springboard for an upturn in performances and fortune in the league.
“We were very good against Reading.” He told fulhamfc.com. “The game plan we had in place worked very well and it stopped them from playing out. Having said that we could have been a few goals up by half time. However, we did start to chase the game a little bit unnecessarily. We got a goal to kill the game and it was capped off with a clean sheet.
“I think we will take every game as it goes. These boys need to progress and they are learning with every game that goes by.”
Having learned from their mistakes last time out in the North East, the Young Whites will approach this one in a fresh frame of mind, according to the boss.
“We’ve had a look at Newcastle this time around and we’ve pinpointed where we might be able to exploit that. Hopefully we can work on that and be patient with our build-up play against them.
“We aren’t concerned by how they play, we want to concentrate on our game regardless if they are missing their main goal threat. The lads are fully fit and raring to go.”