Fulham are chasing Cardiff City in the race for promotion.
Fulham midfielder Stefan Johansen has questioned promotion rivals Cardiff City’s mental strength as they look to pile the pressure on as the season draws to a close, the club’s official website reports.
The Cottagers have been in superb form since the turn of the year, going 17 games unbeaten as they climbed from midtable obscurity to third in the Championship table.
Over the past eight games, however, Cardiff have taken maximum points to consolidate their position in the automatic promotion spots – and with seven games to go they hold a seven-point lead over Fulham.
Johansen recognises the Bluebirds have tough fixtures on the horizon and believes now is the time to see whether Neil Warnock’s men can hold on, as Fulham look to crank up the pressure.
“It doesn’t matter where we go, if it’s home or away, we’re going to go out and try to win the rest of the games and put pressure on Cardiff, who we know have a tough run now,” Johansen told Fulhamfc.com.
“We will see how they deal with the pressure, and we’ll make sure we keep putting pressure on them. If they make it, they’ll have deserved it. If not, we’re going to keep pushing and make sure we get into the Prem.”
Fulham have beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, Derby County and Preston North End over the past six weeks, and they certainly have the momentum.
Cardiff, however, are in even better form – although six of their last eight games have come at home (and six of those opponents currently sit outside the Championship’s top ten).
The Welsh side have tricky games ahead with visits to playoff contenders Sheffield United, Aston Villa and Derby, while other opponents such as Wolves, Norwich and Nottingham Forest certainly won’t be easy.
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