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Phil Parkinson has explained his decision to throw Adam Le Fondre on in the closing stages of Saturday’s game at Fulham.
With Wanderers leading 1-0 and defending stoutly, fans were surprised to see a striker replacing Josh Vela rather than one of the defensive options on the bench.
Tom Cairney ended up sealing a point for the hosts in the 94th minute but Parkinson stood by his substitution – insisting it nearly paid off.
“There’s no-one more frustrated than myself on that touchline. For 15 minutes we couldn’t get out,” he said.
“We put another striker on because we felt we needed Alfie’s runs in behind to try and get us up the pitch. If he scores that goal, it’s a great decision.
“We looked at what we did last week and we didn’t have an out-ball. We decided to make the positive change and we know Alfie is tactically aware with his defensive responsibilities too.”
Parkinson’s side had just 23 per cent possession at Craven Cottage, where their 25-year wait for a league win goes on.
“They had 65 per cent against Aston Villa last week, so even the top teams at this level don’t see a lot of the ball,” the manager explained. “We knew they would dominate possession but equally we thought we could cause them problems.
“It was an outstanding performance. Set up with a game-plan, put our bodies on the line, played with quality, everything I asked of them, they did it.
“Yes, the players are disappointed but you want them to be. I don’t want them jumping up and down when we haven’t got all three points having led the game.
“But, being honest, coming to Fulham, who were always going to be a dangerous team after results haven’t gone their way recently, I thought we acquitted ourselves very well.”
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With Wanderers leading 1-0 and defending stoutly, fans were surprised to see a striker replacing Josh Vela rather than one of the defensive options on the bench.
Tom Cairney ended up sealing a point for the hosts in the 94th minute but Parkinson stood by his substitution – insisting it nearly paid off.
“There’s no-one more frustrated than myself on that touchline. For 15 minutes we couldn’t get out,” he said.
“We put another striker on because we felt we needed Alfie’s runs in behind to try and get us up the pitch. If he scores that goal, it’s a great decision.
“We looked at what we did last week and we didn’t have an out-ball. We decided to make the positive change and we know Alfie is tactically aware with his defensive responsibilities too.”
Parkinson’s side had just 23 per cent possession at Craven Cottage, where their 25-year wait for a league win goes on.
“They had 65 per cent against Aston Villa last week, so even the top teams at this level don’t see a lot of the ball,” the manager explained. “We knew they would dominate possession but equally we thought we could cause them problems.
“It was an outstanding performance. Set up with a game-plan, put our bodies on the line, played with quality, everything I asked of them, they did it.
“Yes, the players are disappointed but you want them to be. I don’t want them jumping up and down when we haven’t got all three points having led the game.
“But, being honest, coming to Fulham, who were always going to be a dangerous team after results haven’t gone their way recently, I thought we acquitted ourselves very well.”
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