Fulham partnership pleases Jol

Fulham partnership pleases Jol

Published Jul. 22, 2011 9:15 a.m. ET

The pair both netted in the west Londoners' comfortable 4-0 Europa League second qualifying round defeat of Northern Irish outfit Crusaders on Thursday night, which sealed a 7-1 aggregate success. Zamora and Johnson worked well in tandem throughout the clash and have impressed in the Whites' European campaign. The duo struggled last season with injuries and only netted 10 goals between them in all competitions, but Jol has backed them to come to the fore this campaign. "Even if you have got a tough defence you know you can score goals," he said. "Last year Bobby was of course injured and Andy was the same, he only had 16 starts. "So we had some trouble with injuries and luckily enough we had [Clint] Dempsey and he was our top scorer "I feel there is a lot more goals in Andy Johnson. Every game when I see him he is quick and he can score goals. "I think he has scored three goals already and that is what you want, not the two goals last year. "He was not satisfied and that was probably because of his injuries and now hopefully we can keep them fit. "If you saw Bobby in the first half, if he is in the flow he is a very good target." Goals from Damien Duff and Steve Sidwell complemented Zamora and Johnson's efforts and helped Fulham cruise into a third qualifying round tie with Croatian side RNK Split next week. "You always want to play perfect football and of course the first half we started well," Jol said of his team's performance. "The first half an hour I thought was good. Good movement, movement and everybody was involved. "After that there were a few sloppy spells and that is not what you want. "But the second half was okay and of course we had to substitute a few players because we have 17 or 18 players who want to be involved. "Overall, if you saw the goals, for example, the first goal had many touches and the second goal was thanks to a Philippe Senderos pass. "Then there was one from Damien Duff so each goal was scored totally differently. And the goal Bobby scored was probably the best one of the evening." Jol named a strong-looking side heading into the clash but goalkeeper David Stockdale was a notable absentee from the bench. Asked whether the Fulham number two was likely to head out on loan, the Dutchman said: "Yes, he is close but of course there is a little issue with the recall. "We can't recall him if he is playing in the Premier League. Maybe there is a bit of space [for manoeuvre] but I don't want to talk about it... "[If we cannot insert a release clause], then we have to put him in the Championship. But there is a possibility he could go to the Premier League." Despite the 7-1 aggregate defeat, Crusaders manager Stephen Baxter lauded his side's performances in the two matches and put the result into perspective. "I can't begin to tell you how proud we are," he said. "We're a very small, part-time football club, only training two nights a week and playing on a Saturday. "These guys have regular jobs and they have come and put in a great shift over the two legs. "We didn't come away humiliated. We were up against Premier League superstars and boy did they give us a good performance. "They knocked the ball about well, they're full of internationals and it is good to watch."

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