Fulham striker Mitrovic knows why he failed to take his chances against Crystal Palace in their Premier League opener – and why fans shouldn’t worry.
Aleksandar Mitrovic made his first appearance as a permanent Fulham player on Saturday in a 2-0 defeat against Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage.
The Serbian signed for the club earlier this summer for an initial £22 million having spent the latter half of last season on loan from Newcastle.
His second debut didn’t quite go to plan, however, as he scuppered a few chances while Palace looked clinical at the other end.
“I had some half chances, one good chance, so if I was a bit luckier I could have had a hat-trick, but I would have been happy if I’d scored one,” he told Fulham’s official website.
But Mitrovic isn’t worried, admitting that he just didn’t have enough in the tank for the first game of the season while choosing to focus on the positives.
“I didn’t score but, to be honest, the last 20 minutes I didn’t have that much power because I didn’t go through all of pre-season,” he said. “But the first 60-70 minutes I felt good.
“I thought the players used me very well around the box, we created a lot of chances, we were unlucky not to score. But I say again, if we play like this I think we will be fine this season.”
There are two reasons for Mitrovic’s lack of pre-season, of course: he spent the first part of the summer with Serbia at the World Cup, and he only joined Fulham on the 30th of July.
Instead, Fulham fans should focus on his impact of last season and how much of a threat a half-fit Mitrovic still looked – get a little sharpness back and the 23-year-old can be a real threat in the Premier League season.
Fulham’s opener may not have gone quite to plan, but this is still very much a side who can compete in the top-flight this year.
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