Roy Hodgson has ruled out throwing Finnish striker Jari Litmanen into Fulham's relegation battle.
Fulham boss refusing to gamble on Litmanen
Roy Hodgson has ruled out throwing Finnish striker Jari Litmanen into Fulham's relegation battle.
The Cottagers boss feels that the former Liverpool forward is a luxury he can ill afford to gamble on at present.
Litmanen is yet to make an appearance for Fulham since joining the club on a free transfer in the January transfer window.
However, with the club currently marooned six points adrift of Premier League safety with just six games remaining, it appears unlikely that he will be given his chance any time soon.
Quality
"I have got to be honest, at the moment, for all his quality he is a luxury we can't afford," admitted Hodgson.
"Our backs are against the wall and we are scrapping for points but he played well in the reserves the other day, which was very good, and he is great to have around.
"But he is not a relegation player, he is a quality forward."
Opportunity
Despite the doom-mongers having already resigned Fulham to the drop this season, Hodgson is refusing to accept that his side are down until it is mathematically impossible for them to survive.
"I am not prepared to say it is over until it is," declared Hodgson.
"We maintain we still have a good chance, we maintain that we can play well enough to get ourselves out of trouble and Saturday (at home to Sunderland) will be a great opportunity to show that.
"We have been written off for quite a long time now. The bookies have made us favourites to go down and the experts, or whatever you like to call them on television, say we are going down and speculate which team will join Fulham and Derby.
Lone voice
"I don't have to join that group of people, luckily I can maintain that there are enough games and points and if we take enough of those points we can still survive.
"Why should I accept that just because we are some points behind safety that we have no chance of reaching our goal?
"I am not prepared to throw in any towels until such time as there is no option for me but to do so.
"I might be a lone voice among the people who are writing us off but I am certainly not a lone voice here among the people at this football club. It is quite the opposite, my voice is being strengthened by the people around me."
Negative
Hodgson also revealed that he will not be using the detrimental comments aimed at his side as a motivational tool to try and lift his players heading into the season run-in.
"We don't use that sort of thing," said Hodgson.
"I don't personally use that as a motivational tool. I don't see signs among the players that they are feeling down. I don't see that.
"I have no reason to believe it is having a negative effect on us. But with every game where we are not getting closer to our goal, it is going to have a negative effect on belief and confidence.
"When we don't get a result we are all quite low but I still have belief we can stay up. I am not prepared to accept we are down."
