It may be a bit much to expect Brede Hangeland to repeat his match-winning goal against Arsenal earlier this season when the sides meet again at the Emirates this weekend, writes Yann Tear.

But the Norwegian says the Whites will be buoyed by that August win at the Cottage and the knowledge they can beat the Gunners - even if they have never done so away from home.

"It will be hard to play them away but the way we are playing, we shouldn't have any fear. We should go there and do our best, then it's possible to get a result," Hangeland (pictured) told the Gazette.

"When we played them here, we defended really well, worked hard and stayed compact and that's probably the most important thing. If we can do that again, then we have a chance."

Hangeland added: "It was maybe the best performance of the season, although we've had a lot of good performances at home.

"We've drawn 0-0 at a few big grounds and I think we'd take that again if we could.

"We are confident away from home, even if we haven't won yet, but we will have to take chances that come our way, because I would be surprised if we hit the crossbar four times as we did against West Brom."

That post-hitting reference is understandable. Fulham could afford to miss a hatful of chances in Sunday's one-sided clash because Albion were so feeble. Against more potent sides, such profligacy will be punished.

"It is worrying when you're watching from the back that we had a lot of chances and didn't take them, but I still felt if we kept playing like that, we'd be really unlucky not to get the goals," the defender said. "If ever we deserved to win a game, it was today. It felt a bit strange to go in at half time goalless when we could have been two or three up.

"Luckily we had two good strikers today and they scored a goal each.

"We were all disappointed on Wednesday at Man United, even though it's realistically hard to get points from that game.

"We'd like to have given a better performance than we did and we'd like to have given them much more of a game than we did - but maybe we have to think about the games against lower teams.

"They are the most important for us at the moment and we knew that beating Albion would be really important, although we weren't thinking about that at Old Trafford."

Hangeland is enjoying his season and the strength that comes from playing in a settled back four. He gave away a penalty on Sunday, but Mark Schawrzer save to deny Roman Bednar made it 10 clean sheets in 25 Premier League games.

"I will say a big thank-you to Mark for saving that penalty. It was very harsh. I pulled my leg back and he just basically fell over," Hangeland said.

"I've never worked with a manager who works as much on defensive shape as Roy and I think it's paying off. It's always easier to win games if you know you are not conceding a lot of goals.

"We've been working really hard on the training ground and luckily we [he and central defensive partner Aaron Hughes] have both stayed away from injuries so we could develop that partnership. He's a really good player and I enjoy playing with him.

"The fact that the four of us have played more or less all the games is good but the midfielders and front players are also working really hard. It's a team effort."

Hangeland added: "I'm not sure how much of the speculation about other clubs' interest in me was realistic. It's just the time of year when there's always speculation.

"I wasn't losing any sleep at night and I've always said I'm happy to stay here.

"I'm sure I have improved from last season. It's difficult when you come into the premier League because it's a big step up from Scandinavian football but I think I've profited from this experience for the past 12 months.

"I've played a lot of games and I'm in a good team, so that has given me a good development.

Match Summary FULHAM (0) 2 WBA (0) 0 Line-up: Schwarzer; Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky; Dempsey, Etuhu, Murphy (Dacourt 85), Davies; Zamora (Nevland 80), Johnson (Kamara 80). Subs not used: Zuberbühler, Gray, Kallio, Baird. Attendance: 22,394 GOALS: Zamora (61), Johnson (72). MoM: Simon Davies 

Next Up: ARSENAL

Emirates Stadium Saturday 3pm Premier League Manager: Arsene Wenger

Position last season: 3rd Form Guide: Having drawn four in a row - the last three 0-0 - Arsenal are struggling for a top four place this season to renew their Champions League membership. They are unbeaten in 12 league games but remain fifth - six points behind Aston Villa. Injuries are also robbing them of Eduardo,Cesc Fabregas,Theo Walcott,Emmanuel Abebayor,Mikael Silvestre and Tomas Rosicky. Arsenal have lost twice at home (2-1 to Hull, 2-0 to Villa). They have also been held to home draws by Spurs,Liverpool, West Ham and Sunderland.

Players to look out for: New signing Andrey Arshavin was magnificent in Euro 2008 but Robin Van Persie is the man who the Gunners rely on most for goals these days. [25a0] Most recent meetings: Fulham 1-0 Arsenal (23 Aug 2008); Fulham 0-3 Arsenal (19 Jan 2008); Arsenal 2-1 Fulham (12 Aug 2007) - Prem Lge. Head-to-head record: AFC Wins: 31 FFC Wins: 7 Draws: 6 [25a0] Match Facts: The Whites have never won away at Arsenal, although they went close on the opening day of last season when they led through David Healy and fell to two late goals. Fulham have lost on six of their seven Premier League visits - the exception was a 0-0 draw at Highbury in November 2003. Brede Hangeland scored the winner when the teams met at Craven Cottage in August - one of just two wins in 15 Premier League encounters. [25a0] Forecast: Fulham could well add Arsenal to the list of away 0-0s - adding to those at Liverpool, Villa and Spurs. But the Gunners are probably due a win.

In Midweek: HULL CITY

Craven Cottage Wednesday 8pm Premier League Manager: Phil Brown

Position last season: Championship play-off winners Form Guide: After a cracking start to life in the top-flight, the Tigers have drifted down the table and are now just six points above the drop zone following Monday night's 2-1 home defeat by Tottenham. They have gone 10 without a win since Middlesbrough were beaten 2-1 in December but a fine 0-0 draw at Chelsea on their last visit to the capital - which put paid to Scolari - has revived confidence. Players to look out for: Geovanni. Great strikes from outside the area have underpinned Hull's efforts.

Most recent meetings: Hull C 2-1 Fulham (16 Aug 2008) - Prem League; Fulham 2-0 Hull C (26 Apr 1997); Hull C 0-3 Fulham (19 Oct 1996) - League Two.

Head-to-head record: FFC Wins: 28 HC Wins: 30 Draws: 26

Match Facts: Although this will be the 85th league meeting between the sides, the clash at the KC Stadium on the opening day of the season was the first for 11 years. Hull's last visit to the Cottage nearly 12 years ago was settled by a Simon Morgan brace (2-0).

Forecast: Fulham to strike again.

Gazetteforecast success rate: 17 correct out of 31 (55%).