Fulham midfielder opens up on QPR derby - and why Whites suffered in September

Tom Cairney thinks Fulham got suckered into believing its own publicity after a great start to the season.

But the Whites midfielder insists the club has returned to the drawing board to arrest an alarming slide.

The August nominee for player of the month notched his third goal of the season at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday for a 1-1 draw.

However, Whites are still winless in six, and would dearly like a repeat of last season on Saturday when face QPR at the Cottage.

Fulham hammered their west London rivals 4-0, and even in the midst of another slump, tore up the form book to dominate the return 3-1 at Loftus Road in February.

Were you at that game? Maybe, you can spot yourself here.

Cairney would take your hand off for 1-0, the same as the season’s opener when they toppled the mighty Newcastle at home.

Check the video below as defender Denis Odoi get the better of Magpies' Paul Dummett.

Fulham then went unbeaten in August only to come a cropper throughout this month.

Was it a case of a side with nothing to lose against Newcastle, then failing to deal with so-called lesser sides in the Championship?

“Yeah, maybe,” he said. “We knew in the first game we had been written off, and we played Newcastle at a good time with them having a hangover after getting relegated.

“I think we maybe need to perform against the better teams as we do the so-called lesser teams.

“Maybe we got carried away with ourselves and stopped doing what we were doing.”

Cairney is no supporter of the bogey team theory - and is sure there will be no repeat of the free-scoring romp against Rangers - even if some in the opposite camp bear the scars.

“It’s about the individual players whether they get affected by a bad defeat,” he added.

“Others might be, but I don’t, although it was two great victories.

“In the second, we were in a bad run of games at the time. But form goes out of the window at derby games, as the old cliche has it.

“I think it will be entertaining on Saturday, but it’ll be a lot tighter than last season - because no one wants to go into the international break on a loss.”

Tickets for the West London derby, (12.45pm kick-off) are available priced from £25 for adults and from £15 for juniors and can be purchased by visiting: fulhamfc.com/tickets or by calling the Fulham Ticket Office on 0843 208 1234 (opt. 2).