A blog of two halves

After a series of recent disappointments, last Saturday’s home match at Craven Cottage provided Fulham fans with an afternoon of joy.

Last Saturday, with Fulham’s season in danger of anti-climax, the Whites went looking for their first League victory at Burnley since 1951.

Three home matches in one week gave Fulham the chance to make history but ultimately produced a trio of disappointments.

The Whites had dared to dream of a League Cup final, but must now move on to the FA Cup and then the need for Premier League points.

Last Saturday’s local derby at Stamford Bridge turned out to be one of those midday games that leaves the neutral viewer unsatisfied.

Marco Silva’s players face a daunting but not impossible prospect in two weeks’ time when they meet Liverpool at the Cottage for their Carabao Cup semi-final return leg.

Fulham ended the year gloriously with a long-awaited victory over the Arsenal.

After five-goal victories over Nottingham Forest and West Ham, the fixtures closest to Christmas both turned out to be disappointments.

If the five-goal victories over Nottingham Forest and West Ham were early Christmas presents, the Whites still had a surprise for the fans by securing a place in the League Cup semi-finals.

There was no fluke about Fulham’s demolition of Nottingham Forest. But fans had to wonder how the Whites would fare when West Ham visited the Cottage at the weekend.