FULHAM manager Martin Jol is thankful the club are already sitting pretty on 40 points after defeat to Liverpool kept them stuck on that total this evening.
The Whites reached the magical 40-point mark, often seen as the benchmark for safety, with a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Aston Villa back on April 13.
Jol's side have failed to pick up a single point in the five games since, slumping to five straight defeats, to keep the threat of relegation hanging over Craven Cottage.
With one game left next weekend at Swansea, it is still mathematically possible for Fulham to slip through the Premier League trapdoor, although it remains highly unlikely.
Should Wigan fail to beat Arsenal in their game in hand on Tuesday night, the Whites' top-flight status will be confirmed for another season, and Jol can breathe a sigh of relief.
In the wake of this afternoon's 3-1 defeat to Liverpool, that saw former Chelsea striker Danny Sturridge claim a hat-trick and Dimitar Berbatov also hit the target, Jol said: “We were very happy to be on 40 points but we haven’t been able to get a result since to be on 46 or 47.
“If you look at the effort we’ve put in against Chelsea, Arsenal and even today, there’s nothing wrong with the effort or application or mentality, but when we’ve needed to change the game to score, we’ve looked a bit vulnerable.
“Last season, we made a big step. We played fantastic football, especially after Christmas. But we had to start again. So we have to count our blessings that we had 40 points at the start of April.”
The result leaves Fulham in 15th place in the table, five points above Wigan who occupy the final relegation place, but who crucially have that game in hand against the Gunners.
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