Marcus Bettinelli hailed Fulham’s never-say-die attitude after Emerson Hyndman’s last gasp goal propelled the Whites away from the relegation zone.

The Cottagers fell behind to a first half Lex Immers header before Scott Parker equalised less than a minute after the restart.

But the hosts looked destined to settle for a point after Ross McCormack’s injury time shot was deflected onto the crossbar and over, only to score the winner from the resulting corner.

And the 23-year-old goalkeeper believes the Championship side are finally reaping the rewards for their grit and determination.

He said: “If you look back at this time last week, we were in a real different position than the one we are in now.

“It shows the resilience that we’ve had in the last couple of games, it has not been pretty at times.

“We didn’t play great during the first half, there were times when we could have passed the ball a bit better.

“But we went in, came back out in the second half knowing what we had to do, we regrouped and started great, Scotty has scored a great goal there - he’s worked tirelessly.

“We put in a lot today, we deserved a win - definitely at least a result. We’re buzzing with that.

“We put in so much hard work and at times this season we haven’t had the rub of the green.”

Gallery: See Fulham's last gasp win against Cardiff in pictures

The win gave Fulham a third consecutive win in just eight days after victory at Preston North End and against MK Dons at home.

The string of results showed just how big a difference a week can make, as the Whites moved 10 points clear of the drop zone as relegation rivals MK Dons and Charlton both lost.

The result leaves Slavisa Jokanovic’s men all but safe with just five games remaining, a huge relief after the hosts entered last weekend one point clear of the relegation zone.

And the former England U21 goalkeeper is looking to confirm the Whites’ spot in the second tier when they travel to Brighton on Friday night.

“Today was another one where it wasn’t pretty at times, but you get what you put in.

“It feels great, great to be a part of and it’s such a comfortable position that we’re in now.

“Obviously it’s not done, but we can get it done at Brighton next week.

“We’re going to prepare for that in the same way as we have done the last two or three games.”