Murphy wants to keep in high spirits

Captain Danny Murphy has urged his Fulham teammates to keep their spirits up - despite four defeats in a row.

Roy Hodgson's side started the season in good fashion with an early-season win over Arsenal but confidence has drained away in recent games, leading to fears being voiced that the Cottagers will be dragged into another relegation battle.

Last Saturday's 1-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion followed setbacks against Blackburn, Burnley (Carling Cup) and West Ham and Murphy admitted: "It's been a strange few games. Everyone was feeling flat and disappointed after Saturday.

"But we can't get too down and the most important thing is we that we don't lose confidence.

"But we are a Premier League side with a squad to be able to cope with the problem of sometimes being without top players and we won't be making that an excuse for the result at West Brom."