Scott Parker insists Fulham are not under more pressure than Cardiff
The Bluebirds boss started the mind games on Wednesday night and Parker has now responded
Sunday 26th July 2020
Fulham boss Scott Parker has dismissed Neil Harris' claim that the Cottagers are under more pressure than Cardiff City heading into the play-offs.
In the wake of Wednesday's win over Hull, Bluebirds boss Harris started the mind games early by saying there was "huge pressure" on Fulham given the money they've spent.
He had said: "There is a bit of pressure on us, but there is huge pressure on Fulham playing against us - a team that should be in the Premier League, given the money they have spent and are now spending .
And former England midfielder Parker couldn't resist denying those claims when asked about it during a press conference on Friday.
"I think there’s been pressure on both," Parker said.
"Cardiff were in the Premier League with us last year and they were eight points better off than us to be honest with you. They finished above us in the Premier League, they’re in the same position as I understand."
The Fulham boss added: "Look, it’s a massive game for both of us, expectations on both clubs are huge, so I think we understand the expectation from the outside and the expectation from the inside is always going to be great.
"Two games against a very, very good Cardiff team, you have no doubt about that, we understand what we face. But like I say, we’ll embrace that and we look forward to it."
The Cottagers boast the Championship's top-scorer in Aleksandar Mitrovic, who has proven to be a thorn in the side of many a team in the division - including Cardiff during their recent 2-0 defeat at Craven Cottage earlier this month.
And Parker admitted Fulham have probably relied on the Serbian's goals more than they would have liked this season.
"Obviously Mitrovic has scored a large part of the goals this year, and has been a focal point to what we’ve done and where we are," he added.
"We said we needed goals from elsewhere in the pitch, we probably lacked that a little bit this year and it’s certainly an area we need to improve on because there’s certainly been a lot of attention on Mitrovic and his goals have been vitally important."
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