Grateful Smalling aims to punish former club Fulham

MANCHESTER UNITED defender Chris Smalling admits he would not be where he is today without the two years he spent at Fulham. Smalling will show no mercy towards his old club tonight when United visit Craven Cottage hunting three more points in their quest to retain the Barclays Premier League title.

However, the 21-year-old will be greeting some old friends before and after kick-off. And, although he only made 14 senior appearances for the Cottagers, it was the period between being snapped up from non-league Maidstone to arriving at Manchester United in 2010 that turned him into an England international.

“Without former Fulham boss Roy Hodgson giving me my chance there I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “I had a big two years there and it is a time I look back upon fondly. My first year was about finding my feet.