Huddersfield beating Reading in the Championship play-off final gave Fulham forward Sone Aluko closure after their play-off heartbreak.
The Royals had beaten the Whites in the semi finals, despite the west Londoners playing the better football over the course of the two legs.
While it would have hurt to have seen Jaap Stam's side go up instead of Fulham, once the play-off final was completed that was it as far as Aluko was concerned.
“Huddersfield beat Reading, they were up and that was closure,” Aluko told City A.M.
“After that, you go on holiday, you move on and start looking forward to next season. It was pretty quick.
“Of course, there was a sense of disappointment but that’s football. Every time you play, you’ve got to earn the right to win, you can’t base it off what we did before — winning 5-0 [vs Reading], 5-0 and 4-1 [vs Huddersfield] — you have to go out there and keep doing it every time.
“They earned the right to be there.”
The aim at Craven Cottage is simple; go out there and ensure that Premier League football will be played on the banks of the Thames in 12 months time.
“We want to build on last season,” says Aluko. “We’re not satisfied with what we did last year.
“We’re proud of what we did — at the start of last season we weren’t tipped to be anywhere near the play-offs — but we want more.
“Every time you go out and play you have to earn the right. Whether we were tipped last season or not, whether we’re tipped this year, it doesn’t mean teams are going to come and go ‘Fulham are a top team’.
“It’s like Newcastle last year, they had to go out and win the league. No one gave it to them and we’re no different. We know it’s going to be tough this year but we fancy the challenge.”
