Danny Murphy has praised manager Roy Hodson for giving Fulham the belief that they could escape relegation from the Premier League.Fulham clinched survival on the last day of the Premier League season, thanks largely to Murphy's headed goal at Fratton Park in a 1-0 win over Portsmouth.

The Cottagers were written off by many for much of the season as relegation certainties, but Murphy has praised the manager for sticking to his footballing principles and instilling the belief in his men that they could escape the drop.

He told the club's official website: "Despite being in the bottom three we tried to play the right way, passing the ball around. That's the way we, and the manager, want to play football.

"He (Hodgson) deserves credit for that. He's given us the belief to keep playing the right way in the situation we've been in. For me it's not difficult because it's the only way I know how to play. I'm not comfortable playing any other way.

"The manager is the one who's been in training week in, week out, really believing in us and saying 'don't worry'. Even at half-time at Man City when we were two-nil down he said 'keep going, keep believing'. We ended up winning the game and for me that was the turning point.

"The new manager changed the philosophy. We were in the bottom three when the new manager came in. He believed in trying to play a certain way and credit too him for that."

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