Cauley Woodrow doesn’t believe three’s a crowd - in fact, the Fulham striker reckons it suits him fine.

The England U21 international is happy to wait his turn in the pecking order knowing Matt Smith and Ross McCormack start as favourites to land the front two roles.

But with a 46-game season even before the cups, Woodrow insists there will be plenty of game-time to make his mark even though his debut was as far back as March 2014 in the Premier League against of all teams, Cardiff City, where Whites open their campaign on Saturday week.

“I’m still very young, and I’m still learning, and I’ve only had one full season in the Championship (see gallery),” Woodrow explained. “It’s just about learning from Matt and Ross

“I’m not going to put pressure on myself. I’m just going to do my best and see what happens.”

Surprisingly, the 20-year-old believes the vibe in the squad last season is pretty much the same as this.

Video Loading

Even so, things went rapidly downhill before the removal of controversial manager Felix Magath, but Woodrow believes results on the pitch are destined to become a whole heap better.

“We’ve signed some new lads, and there’s a real positive vibe,” he said. “There was a positive vibe last season; it’s just the way we went about things.

“Now we’ve got Kit (Symons) as a manager, we know what’s expected of us.”


Balancing act: Cauley Woodrow in action with Fulham target Kevin McDonald

What’s expected is a top 10 place at the very least, and Woodrow would very much like a second crack at Cardiff to get the side off to a good start.

“It was a nice moment for me making my debut, but we got relegated that season,” he added. “On a personal note it would be nice to go back and play well.

“We’re all getting similar minutes at the moment in pre-season, and it’s down to us to show what we can do.”

Woodrow played a full 90 minutes against Hertha BSC last week in Austria and scored the Whites second goal for the equaliser and a 2-2 draw.

Fulham’s last pre-season friendly is on Saturday - the only one at Craven Cottage. Crystal Palace are the visitors. Kick-off, 3pm.

poll loading

Will Cauley Woodrow make a difference to Fulham this season?