Tomas Kalas has branded Fulham's defeat at Burton Albion last week embarrassing – as the Whites bid to bounce back against Middlesbrough tomorrow.
With Fulham amongst the pre-season favourites for promotion and Burton expected to be battling the drop, a 2-1 defeat for Salvisa Jokanovic's men last weekend was most unexpected.
But Kalas is determined that Fulham will put things right this weekend against his former loan club Boro, who like them are hot tips for a promotion push this term.
“It was a disappointing result, not only for us but for the fans and for everyone,” Kalas told the cluib's website. “It was kind of embarrassing because, with all respect to Burton, that’s not a game we should be losing.
“We didn’t get three points against one of the sides who people thought might struggle this season, so now we have to go and do it in a fixture that is probably more difficult.”
Kalas was a virtual ever-present for Middlesbrough when on loan there two years ago, helping them into the Premier League, so knows just how tough the Teesiders will be to beat.
“They are always strong,” he admitted. “They were strong two years ago. They always know what they’re doing.
“They’ve always got good players and they’re always going to be favourites to be promoted. I would agree that they’ve got one of the strongest squads in the league.”
The Burton defeat was typical of Fulham's inconsistent start to the season, and Kalas warned his team-mates not to be looking back at the end of it wondering what could have been.
“We need to start winning more than just one game in a row,” he added. “The sooner we start doing that, the better for us.
“Then at the end of the season hopefully we won’t be looking back in hindsight thinking, ‘if we’d won this game or that game then things would be completely different.’
“It will be for the best if we can begin stringing wins together as soon as possible, so let’s start on Saturday.”
