Ranieri ready for survival fight

Published on: 01 December 2018

New Fulham head coach Claudio Ranieri accepts that his side face a tough task if they are to pull away from the foot of the Premier League table and avoid relegation.

It will be a tough way to the safety, but I am confident we will do it.

Claudio Ranieri

Ranieri enjoyed a winning start to his Craven Cottage reign as Southampton were beaten 3-2 last weekend, however, he is under no illusions about the size of the job in hand, with a meeting with Chelsea next on the agenda on Sunday.

The Italian, whose side are 5/6 to be relegated, told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "It will be a tough way to the safety, but I am confident we will do it.

"We have a good team, we just have to get better at defending and improve our mentality. I have made myself clear with my players, I want at team that runs and fights."

Meanwhile, Ranieri has challenged Cottagers skipper Tom Cairney to try and get back among the goals, with the Scotland midfielder having yet to open his account for the season.

He added: "He is a good player with high quality, but I want more from him.

"I want him to play as well in the Premier League as he played in the Championship. He scored a lot of goals and I want him to try and do the same now.

"It's okay if he makes assists, but also he can score goals. They are important because he has good timing to arrive (in the box) and a good left foot. He has to shoot more."

Cairney can be backed at 12/1 to score at any time at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with Aleksandar Mitrovic priced at 3/1, while the visitors are 7/1 to earn a draw against their London rivals.

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New Fulham head coach Claudio Ranieri accepts that his side face a tough task if they are to pull away from the foot of the Premier League table and avoid relegation.

It will be a tough way to the safety, but I am confident we will do it.

Claudio Ranieri

Ranieri enjoyed a winning start to his Craven Cottage reign as Southampton were beaten 3-2 last weekend, however, he is under no illusions about the size of the job in hand, with a meeting with Chelsea next on the agenda on Sunday.

The Italian, whose side are 5/6 to be relegated, told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "It will be a tough way to the safety, but I am confident we will do it.

"We have a good team, we just have to get better at defending and improve our mentality. I have made myself clear with my players, I want at team that runs and fights."

Meanwhile, Ranieri has challenged Cottagers skipper Tom Cairney to try and get back among the goals, with the Scotland midfielder having yet to open his account for the season.

He added: "He is a good player with high quality, but I want more from him.

"I want him to play as well in the Premier League as he played in the Championship. He scored a lot of goals and I want him to try and do the same now.

"It's okay if he makes assists, but also he can score goals. They are important because he has good timing to arrive (in the box) and a good left foot. He has to shoot more."

Cairney can be backed at 12/1 to score at any time at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with Aleksandar Mitrovic priced at 3/1, while the visitors are 7/1 to earn a draw against their London rivals.

View all Soccer betting

Source: bet365.com

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