Scott Parker wants his Fulham side to use the morale boost that came with victory at Leicester as they face one of their toughest challenges of the season when they travel to Manchester City on Saturday.
The Cottagers secured their first away victory of the campaign against the Foxes on Monday to move one point clear of the relegation zone, despite having just 32 per cent possession on the night.
Parker believes that result has boosted confidence in his side ahead of their trip to the Etihad Stadium.
“It’s done a lot. Of course, I do always say that this season we need to keep morale, we need to keep spirit high and that has been the case, although we haven’t won many games,” Parker said.
“But in saying that, when you do get a result against a very tough team, I don’t think anyone expected us to get a result and we went and got a result and played extremely well.
“So with that brings a little bit of extra confidence and an extra bit of belief and that helps on the way. So a big result for us on Monday and something for us to build on. Not just to build on come Saturday or against Liverpool but for the remainder of the season really.”
Manchester City are looking to kickstart their Premier League campaign after a sluggish start to the season and burst into life with a 5-0 thrashing of Burnley at the Etihad last weekend.
Parker is aware Fulham will need to be at their best to have a chance of taking something from the game and admits his side will have to adopt a similar approach as they did at the King Power Stadium.
“I can’t imagine we’d be going there and dominating possession, certainly a large part of the teams that go and play against Manchester City that’s the case,” Parker added.
“Is that to say that you can’t get a result against them without that? I think we proved that against Leicester and I think teams have proved that this year that have gone there.
“There’s no denying that this is one of our toughest fixtures of this year and I think any team in the Premier League, whether you’re sitting at the top or down near the bottom, would be saying the same thing.
“So (we need to be) disciplined and we’re going to need to be at our best to try and get a result there.”
Ivan Cavaleiro scored a penalty against Leicester, ending Fulham’s run of three missed spot-kicks before that against Sheffield United, West Ham and Everton, but Parker believes his side have moved on from those disappointments.
“I think it’s pleasing because no doubt over the last few weeks it has been an issue for us, because if you miss penalties like we did that cost us a lot of points which it has, there’s obviously something there,” the 40-year-old added.
“(It’s an) ongoing process to try and keep ticking as many boxes and keep working on it and hope that the hard work you’re putting in and that the players are putting in and the processes that are in place will keep paying off.
“We were pleased when that one hit the back of the net.”
