Bullard told to raise his game

Sixteen months after sustaining knee ligament damage that threatened his career, Bullard marked his first start in a home Premier League clash with the man-of-the-match performance.

Such was the energy displayed by the 28-year-old midfielder, it seemed there had been at least half-a-dozen Bullards spread out over the pitch.

If he was not tracking back to help the defence he was racing down the centre, popping up on the left wing, or cutting in from the right as in the 73rd minute when his curling cross was turned in by Simon Davies.

That cancelled out captain Aaron Hughes' own-goal five minutes earlier when the former Villa player got in the way of Olof Mellberg's flick from a Shaun Maloney corner. Then, five minutes from time, Bullard clinched Fulham's first win since 3 November with a curling 25-yard free-kick.

Hodgson was delighted with the win which lifted Fulham to within three points of the safety zone. But he has been around long enough to know that Bullard and the rest of the side must raise their game even further.

Hodgson said: "The way we're playing suits Jimmy quite well, he likes to be in that attacking midfield role. But we can get more out of him going forward than we're doing at the moment."

Yesterday, Bullard was so caught up in the moment that at the end of easily Fulham's best 90 minutes of the season he even had a hug for referee Chris Foy. Bullard said: "Just to be out there kicking a ball, let alone scoring, was just fantastic.

"To be out for 16 months and come back to that was frightening. I just put everything into it that I could.

"Now it is so important that we build on this. We know we're still in a fight but if we show that kind of spirit every week we'll be fine."

As Bullard spoke, visible on his nose was a bruise sustained at the end of last week from a training pitch altercation with team-mate Chris Baird.

"It was a regrettable incident," said Hodgson. "It was certainly no way indicative of what's been going on in our training sessions."

Newcomers Brede Hangeland, Leon Andreasen and Erik Nevland were outstanding while Brian McBride, who dislocated his knee back in August, made a timely return as second half substitute.