Roy Hodgson is delighted that his side managed to give themselves the chance of survival in the Premiership, but is delighted that Fulham are back in control of their own destiny ahead of the final match of the season.

“We haven’t been in a very good situation for a long time and basically I suppose to use the old cliché that we have been dead and buried for a long time,” said Hodgson, whose side also have a favourable goal difference. “But it is nice now to have a chance at least by going into the final game.

“The task for us is to beat Portsmouth at Fratton Park - we know that. But I think we have got to be happy that we have got that possibility because it didn’t look as though we were going to have that possibility a couple of weeks ago.

“It will be heartbreak anyway, it will be a more dramatic heartbreak. But the fact is that all of us here have wanted to keep Fulham in the Premiership. It’s been our goal, it’s been our major focus and it’s been our dream.

“It looked for quite a long while that that would be a dream we would have to forgoe and come to terms with the reality of the Championship. All of a sudden we have had a reprieve and they have said to us: ‘If you win your last game you won’t be in the Championship’.

“So we have just got to be satisfied that we are in that situation. We will be devastated if we lose, but if we win there will be another team that are devastated because three teams have to go down.”