David Button has called on his Fulham side to make themselves tougher after they lost 2-1 to Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.

John Terry and Albert Adomah condemned the Whites to defeat after Stefan Johansen's freekick had pulled Slavisa Jokanovic's side level on the stroke of half time, but they struggled to break down Villa's defence in the second half.

Villa's defence, consisting of the veteran Terry and James Chester, were robust and dealt with most of what Fulham could throw at them with a physical reply, and Button has called on his side to stand up to sides when the going gets tough.

He said: "It comes down to being strong in both boxes, I think we had a couple of good chances which we didn't take and they got a set piece and goal that was avoidable.

"Based on chances, we probably should've drawn, but we need to understand when we come away from home teams will be strong and physical against us and we need to stand up to it.

David Button

"We know we'll be fine on the ball because we have the quality but we need to make sure we're harder to beat.

"It was a little bit more difficult [to get balls to the centre backs] but the conditions were hard with the wind but I felt we got it out okay and our better chances came when we did it well but looking back we could've done better in the first half but it was certainly tricky with their press.

"It's frustrating, it's a good feeling when you make the saves but we need to get something from the game, when you lose it makes everything not as important but we're still close to the top six and top two and we'll keep on going."