MARTIN Jol is convinced Wednesday’s shock elimination from the Europa League will not herald the departure of key players.

The Fulham boss has now lost the bargaining chip of European competition when it comes to negotiating new contracts with existing players or potential new signings in January.

But he is confident it will not be an issue.

"Sometimes they use the Champions League as a sort of excuse for the top players, but I don’t think it will affect us," said Jol, whose team was dumped out by a last-minute goal against Odense.

"If that was the case, all these clubs who are not in the top six would have a problem.

"The Premier League is attractive enough to any player, so it’s nothing to do with Europe."

The Fulham boss is also convinced the blessing in disguise will be better form in the league, now the players do not face such a heavy workload and will be travelling less.

"It’s awful to go out of the competition in the way we did and I think it’s a big blow, but every disadvantage has got an advantage," he said.

"Hopefully we will gain something from the fact that we don’t have to play these Thursday matches [in the Europa League].

"In the second half, our best players were probably almost worn out or tired. It’s probably the 30th game for a few.

"But it’s not an excuse because we are a team who can [normally] defend a lead, and we are used to that."

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