Fulham have missed a golden opportunity for some rare cup glory, according to Toni Kallio.

The Finn would have been excused for having his thoughts on his homeland on Tuesday night - and those horrific school murders which captured the day's headlines.

But if those depressing events were on his mind, he found no consolation on the field as the Whites fell to an 88th minute goal at Burnley from 19-yearold sub Jay Rodriguez.

It continued an astonishingly inept record for Fulham at Turf Moor. They have now lost on eight successive visits and you have to go back 57 years to find the last win there.

"It's true that we missed a good opportunity to progress, " Kallio told the Gazette.

"I think the league remains our major priority but we had a good side out. It was an experienced team and should have done better.

"Although you never know who you are going to get in the next round, the Carling Cup was a good chance for us to do well.

"We didn't want to lose, obviously. It was a disappointment for everyone. We wanted to go through and had a good chance, but there's nothing we can do about it now.

"I think we should have won. I think if it had gone to extra time, it would have been good for us and we maybe would have won.

"But to be fair they were a decent side. They played quite well and we didn't create so many chances."

Fulham will be aiming to draw a line under a sorry week of under-achievement in the north-west.

The 1-0 defeat at Burnley followed defeat by a similar score-line just down the road at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday - which also came about as a result of a late goal, that time from Matt Derbyshire.

Roy Hodgson made eight changes from that game and made no bones about where his priorities lie and said afterwards that he had no regrets.

He must hope his decision to rest some of his first-teamers is rewarded at the weekend when West Ham come to Craven Cottage.

Kallio thinks Fulham will, even if the chances are he will have to surrender his place once again. He played in central defence but both Brede Hangeland and Aaron Hughes are first choice, as is Paul Konchesky, who holds down Kallio's preferred left-back position.

"Paul Konchesky has been playing well. I'll have to keep working and wait for my chance. Hopefully it will come soon," Kallio acknowledged.

Konchesky - along with Jimmy Bullard, John Pantsil and Bobby Zamora - is one of the former Hammers who will be doing their best to upset their former side at the weekend and Kallio thinks that will count for something.

"I don't know about them and it's never happened for me, but I can imagine if I played against my old team, it would give me an extra boost," the Finn said.

"What we have to try to do now is get it back on track and try not to concede a goal in the last five minutes as we've done twice this week. That is the most important thing."

Referring to a 42-year wait for a Fulham home win in the league against the Hammers, Kallio added: "I didn't know we haven't beaten them at home for so long and it seems we have a record to beat - but we have played well at home and hopefully we can keep up that good form."

Match Summary BURNLEY (0) 1 FULHAM (0) 0 Line-up: Zuberbühler; Stoor, Baird, Kallio, Konchesky; Gera (Pantsil 73), Andreasen, Andranik, Dempsey; Johnson (Nevland 72), Seol (Milsom 90). Subs not used: Stockdale, Brown, Leijer. Attendance: 7,119 GOALS: Rodriguez (88).

MoM: Jay Rodriguez  Next Up

Next up:

WEST HAM UTD

Craven Cottage Saturday 3pm Premier League

Manager: Gianfranco Zola Position last season: 10th Form Guide: New boss Gianfranco Zola - who took over from a disenchanted Alan Curbishley this month - started his Hammers career with a 3-1 win at home to Newcastle last weekend - and that makes it three out of three in the league on home soil. Wigan (2-1) and Blackburn (4-1) were also beaten in east London. But away from home, the Hammers have lost at Man City (0-3) and West Brom (2-3) and they have yet to pick up a point on their travels. In the Carling Cup, the Hammers needed extra-time to see off League Two Macclesfield at home (4-1) and then fell 1-0 at Watford this week in the third round. Players to look out for: David Di Michele - on loan from Torino - struck twice last weekend and looked impressive. The 32-yearold has played for Italy six times.

[25a0] Most recent meetings: Fulham 0-1 West Ham (23 Feb 2008); West Ham 2-1 Fulham (12 Jan 2008) - PL. Head-to-head record: FFC Wins: 27 WHU Wins: 34 Draws: 18

Match Facts: The Whites have not managed to beat the Hammers at home since gaining admission to the top flight, losing four and drawing once (0-0) two years ago. They have only scored once in that time too. Even an FA Cup tie in 2004 was drawn 0-0. Fulham won 2-0 at Upton Park in their first season up (2001) but have not had a win in the nine league clashes since then. It is 42 years since Fulham last won at home to West Ham in the league (4-2). There have been eight failures since then, although there was a League Cup win in 1974.

Forecast: With Bobby Zamora and John Pantsil eager to show the Hammers they were wrong to sell them, the Whites might just record an historic first home win against the Hammers in the Premier League.

Gazetteforecast success rate: 3 correct out of 6 (50%)