Scott Parker “gutted” at Fulham relegation – lack of quality in certain moments proved costly

Scott Parker described himself as “gutted” after Fulham were relegated from the Premier League.

The Whites were defeated 2-0 at Craven Cottage by Burnley on Monday night to seal an instant return to the Championship.

“Relegation has been looming and we’ve been in and around this situation for a while now – but that doesn’t hide the disappointment, the hurt and sadness I feel tonight,” Parker said.

“I’m gutted. Whilst we have made some big improvements, while we’ve pushed on in certain elements, the facts are we’ve been relegated because we’ve fallen short at this level.

“Whilst there has been some positives this season, the facts are we haven’t managed to match our goal which was to stay in the league. We knew how difficult it would be and we were aware of the challenge ahead, but ultimately we’ve fallen a bit short.

“Tonight is a riding factor of how our season has gone at times, between the two boxes we did very well tonight, the difference was defensively. The two goals we conceded were poor and then that final moment where you need to score goals, you need to make good decisions, you need to have more detail in the passes but we didn’t have that.

“When I look back over the course of this season, that’s been the big difference [final details] really. The effort and endeavour I have had in abundance since day one. What we’ve lacked is our quality in certain moments.

“The players have to understand what you need to bring at this level. Whilst there is plenty of effort, you need more to survive at this level. This league is brutal and the key details and tiny details are key. That’s what we need to work on.

“In this present moment, I have nothing but sadness. At the start of the season I wanted for us to be successful and survive and we haven’t managed to do that.

“We’ve still got three games remaining and my job is to make sure these three games end the season in the right way.”