Fulham boss Rene Meulensteen claimed that Dimitar Berbatov is fully committed to the club following his match winning performance against Aston Villa. Speculation had been rife in the week about the Bulgarian's desire to leave Craven Cottage, with the player's agent being reported as saying he wants a move as soon as January. Speaking after the match Meulensteen said Berbatov was committed to the Whites. "I just had a good chat with him, like I said Berba is not a stranger to me. "We know what games we have coming up all the way up to January, and he is fully committed to Fulham and the games that we've got ahead of us," he said. The Dutchman was delighted with Berbatov's performance and admitted that the ex-Manchester United striker's presence is important to the team. "It makes a difference. I thought he was excellent on Wednesday but today again he showed what he is capable of," said Meulensteen. The Fulham manager also took time to praise his whole squad's efforts, impressed with their reaction after Wednesday's defeat to Tottenham. "I couldn't be more delighted. The most important thing is that the players should be delighted with themselves. Today I think they were even better ," the Fulham manager added. In a game that possessed several contentious decisions, Villa boss Paul Lambert confessed that he was disappointed with some of referee Mike Dean's calls, but that his team did not deserve to pick up the three points anyway. "I don't think we did enough to win the game. "Where I am disappointed is some of the decisions, the two penalties for instance. I have just spoken to Mike there and heard his views on it, mine differ from his. "I think when you lose any game you're always disappointed. You pick yourself up and you go again. "You can put it into perspective, we are still 3 points behind Manchester United. It's not all doom and gloom, we have lost a game of football but we'll bounce back," said Lambert. The victory for Fulham is priceless as they now move level on points with 17th placed West Ham, who are just above them in the table. The Whites next game sees them travel to in-form Everton, who have been flying high since Roberto Martinez took over in the summer. The prospect of a trip to Merseyside makes Fulham's win today all the more valuable and should fill them with some confidence ahead of a tricky encounter. As for Villa, they welcome defending champions Manchester United to Villa Park in the hope they can bounce back from a first defeat in six matches.
Simon is an NCTJ qualified sports journalist. He has conducted interviews with Tony Adams and Peter Shilton, while also having work published in The Daily Telegraph and The Sun. Follow him on Twitter via @sr_collings.
