These are worrying times for Fulham after a second successive home defeat in the Premier League turned a comfortable cruise towards survival into a desperate scramble for points.

Boss Roy Hodgson claimed with some justification after last night's loss that "it's going to be a tough last 10 games for us".

In the wake of last week's reverse at home against Hull City, Hodgson claimed his side were unlucky to concede the only goal of the game after dominating the previous 92 minutes of action.

But a 2-1 setback against Blackburn last night, coming after Saturday's 4-0 thumping by Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals, was all the more worrying because Hodgson could salvage few positives from a jaded performance that was treated to a chorus of jeers at the end.

He did point to two stunning one-handed diving saves by Mark Schwarzer from Stephen Warnock and Clint Dempsey's second minute opener, well-taken by the American after he shrugged off Ryan Nelson's shirt-tugging challenge, that had filled the Fulham faithful with such hope.

But the list of negatives was far longer. For a start, the chances of swift redemption look remote with Fulham going to Bolton on Saturday - and remember, they have not won away in the League all season - and then facing a rampant United back at the Cottage the following weekend.

Likely to miss those games is Aaron Hughes, whose partnership with Brede Hangeland at the heart of Fulham's defence has proved so vital to the team effort.

An indication of just how much Hodgson's men will miss the Northern Ireland international came just five minutes after he went off with a rib muscle injury, with substitute Toni Kallio being easily turned by Jason Roberts who then rifled Rovers' late winner.

But most worrying of all for Hodgson is the toll a rapid succession of matches has taken on his dangerously depleted squad - 10 players have appeared in at least 24 of Fulham's 28 League games, and Danny Murphy, Simon Davies and John Pantsil are showing the strain.

Hodgson said: "We have a small squad and we lost a couple recently to injury, which hasn't helped.

"We always knew we were going to be stretched if any injuries came along. We knew that the tiredness and fatigue factor was going to be a problem for us. I hope that next season the squad will be bigger and stronger."

He is assuming, of course, that Fulham remain a Premier League force. On the face of it, they still appear safe at 10th in the table, but only six points now separate them from Portsmouth, who have dropped to third from bottom after only Rovers' second win in seven League games lifted them out of the relegation zone.

The Fulham boss said: "It's good to have those six points but you can't stop looking over your shoulder.

"We've got two days to lick our wounds and get some energy back into the players because Bolton is going to be another tough game for us."

Bobby Zamora should be fit for the trip to the Reebok Stadium after missing last night with a hip injury.

In addition to his goal-shy striker, Hodgson will hope for a little more luck with refereeing decisions after two players looked offside just ahead of El-Hadji Diouf scoring Blackburn's 69th-minute equaliser from close range.