Although the Cottagers were beaten at Manchester United on Sunday, they remain in the top half of the table, comfortably clear of any relegation worries. They also have an FA Cup sixth round replay with Tottenham to come and, more imminently, Thursday's eagerly-anticipated Europa League clash with Juventus. It is precisely the kind of fixture congestion Hodgson feared 12 months ago, when his side were moving into contention for European qualification. Hodgson worried about the problems all summer. And while he never felt entirely comfortable, Hodgson is delighted at the way his team have performed. "We have coped with this season better than anyone could have expected us to do, especially given the amount of players we have lost to injury. "We have done remarkably well to keep going as we have done. "It is going to be very important for us to get through this period but once we get past Tottenham, things will start to settle down to a somewhat more normal programme." That does not take into account that if Fulham progress in the cup competitions, they will have even more games to play. However, while there is no sense of defeatism from Hodgson, he does hope should his side eventually fall, there will be no major hangover. "My concern is that, having done so well, it will impact upon us if we go out of any of the competitions," he said. "It is very important that doesn't happen and we don't allow our season, which has been quite fantastic, just to slip away." Fulham are still waiting for an update on the condition of key central defender Brede Hangeland, who was forced out of Sunday's game after failing to shake off what appeared to be a chest injury following an aerial collision with Antonio Valencia.
