Etherington hits winner for Stoke

May 5, 2010 - 11:44 PM By Adam Carroll-Smith STATS European Football Writer=

LONDON (SE) - Roy Hodgson fears Fulham's first appearance in a European final could be ruined by injury as Damien Duff became their latest casualty following a 1-0 home defeat to Stoke.

Republic of Ireland international midfielder Duff, a key component in Fulham's rise this season, limped off at half-time minutes with an apparent calf strain, joining top-scorer Bobby Zamora on the sidelines.

Matthew Etherington settled an uneventful affair at Craven Cottage but Hodgson's thoughts were towards next week's final in Hamburg against Atletico Madrid and the availability of his two star players.

Fulham manager Hodgson said: "Damien could not run, he was struggling with an injury but I am sincerely hoping it is not a serious injury and we will have to see how it progresses.

"The progress on Bobby is slow and to some extent we are running out of time and I will have to wait until Friday and Saturday and see how he is doing.

"It is not looking good because the problem remains it remains a question how we can solve it our get him to a stage where he is in a position to play.

"We certainly did not deserve to lose this game and we were very keen to finish in the top half of the Premier League table."

With both sides comfortable in mid-table the first half made for a forgettable contest as Fulham, despite Hodgson naming an almost full-strength line-up, were cautious in their build-up.

Stoke are hunting a highest top flight finish since 1975 but like their opponents were tentative in their approach, perhaps mindful of the mauling they endured the last time they visited west London.

There was little sign of a repeat of Chelsea for the Potters though as Zoltan Gera mustered the only shot on target with his stinging drive testing Asmir Begovic but not enough for the Bosnian to be troubled.

The second half opened up a little more and Stoke exploited the space with Rory Delap's long throw nodded just wide by Ricardo Fuller.

Clint Dempsey had been quiet in the first 45 but as Fulham's main creative outlet he finally realised his responsibilities by lurching into life with two decent attempts at the Stoke goal.

The first, a tight close-range half-volley, was brilliantly denied by Begovic before he tried his luck from distance which although was well-struck did little to threaten the scoreline.

An inevitable goalless draw looked on the cards until Fuller and Etherington combined for the game's only real moment of genuine quality unlocked the door.

Jamaican striker Fuller bamboozled Paul Konchesky down the Fulham left before whipping over a cross that made its way to the far post for Etherington to smash a left-footed finish and mark his crowning as Stoke's Player of the Season.

Tony Pulis saluted his said as they leapfrogged above Fulham and eclipsed last season's points tally of 45.

Stoke boss Pulis said: "It is a remarkable achievement. The players have every right to be proud of what they have achieved this season.

"It shows the character and the spirit of the side that after losing 7-0 at Chelsea we have produced such a great response. We have kept two clean sheets and claimed four points against two top teams.

"I thought Fulham were the better side in the first half and caused us problems but we got into the game more after the break.

"We worked hard at closing them down and this shows what a great backbone this side because this was a tough test for us."