Jol not fazed by Europa challengers

Fulham boss Martin Jol insists his side is not daunted by their tough draw in the group stages of the Europa League.

Fulham – who made the final of the competition in 2009/10 where they lost to Atletico Madrid – were drawn in Group K alongside Eredivisie outfit FC Twente, Odense of Denmark and Wisla Krakow of Poland.

“It is obviously a tough group,” Jol said on Friday.

“Wisla are champions in Poland, I know the manager there, he is Dutch (Robert Maaskant). Twente were obviously runners-up in Holland and went out against Benfica (in the Champions League knockout round).”

“Odense were runners-up in Denmark and went out against Villarreal. It is a tough group.”

When quizzed on who was the strongest in the group, Jol named FC Twente, although he feels his side have enough quality to progress into the round of 32 stage.

“Twente are a good, good Dutch team and were champions in 2010,” he said.

“Last year Ajax were champions in the last game against them so, as I said, it is a difficult group. They have got a lot of individual quality: (Nikolay) Mihaylov, the goalkeeper, and Douglas is one of the best in Europe I feel.”

“But we are from England. We are a Premier League side so we have the quality to make it difficult for all these teams. They will look at it the same way we do. I think we have a good chance to get to the next stage.”