Hughes: We deserved three points

Fulham manager Mark Hughes believes his side deserved three points from their stalemate against Sunderland.

Neither side was able to find a breakthrough over 90 long minutes at Craven Cottage, in a match with few chances to speak of.

Despite the lack of goal-mouth action, Hughes maintains his players did enough throughout the game to earn a win.

“I thought the amount of possession we had in the second half and the number of chances we had, in terms of blocked shots and opportunities, we were good value for three points,” Hughes said.

“But, in fairness to Sunderland, I thought they defended really well and they were really strong and determined when they had to get bodies in front of the ball and that frustrated us.”

“At the moment, things just aren’t dropping in the box for us but it’s only a matter of time before we start getting more points on the board.”

“The guys are frustrated because obviously, performance wise, we’re better than our league position but at the end of the day you’ve got to put points on the board.”

“There’s a lot of games coming up and things can change very, very quickly.”

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce was satisfied to emerge from London with a clean sheet, after being forced into late changes to his backline.

“I think you’re always delighted to pick up a point away from home and I couldn’t fault the effort and determination, considering the changes we had to make defensively,” Bruce said.

“But we didn’t hit anywhere near the standards we’re used to. We gave the ball away too often and too cheaply and I think that goes for both sides to be honest.”

“I think it was a fair result, a drab nil-nil.”