Hodgson will be encouraged - Lewington

Ray Lewington believes new Fulham manager Roy Hodgson will be “encouraged” by the performance in a battling 1-1 draw at Birmingham.

The Cottagers were given a first-half lead through Carlos Bocanegra before it was cancelled out during the second period by Blues midfielder Sebastian Larsson.

Hodgson watched the game from the stands before officially taking charge at Fulham tomorrow.

Caretaker boss Lewington said: “Roy will look at the squad like we have and I think he will be encouraged by what he saw in terms of the spirit and the way we played.

“He will probably think, however, that the balance is wrong and I’ve felt that myself for quite a long time.

“We have got good players but they are similar types of players and it is the mixture rather than the quality he will probably look at.

“I literally had a five minute conversation (with Hodgson) before we got the bus to come here. It will be interesting to see what he made of it, but I am sure he will take heart from a lot of what he saw.”

Lewington is expecting to remain with Fulham after Hodgson has taken over the reigns.

He said: “I’m looking forward to working with Roy. I have known him a long time. Roy actually took me for my primary coaching badge when I was a 17-year-old.

“Have I got any assurances about my future? Basically he is not looking to bring anyone else in and sees no need for change.

“After a few months, who knows? But he seems happy with the situation regarding the coaching side of things.”

With regard to Fulham’s performance, Lewington said: “I thought we played well in the first half, created some good opportunities. We needed the second goal but it didn’t come.

“We knew they were going to come out and play different in the second half because they were pretty lethargic in the first 45 minutes and expected they would get a roasting at half-time.”

Lewington believes Fulham will not lodge a complaint over the red card shown to midfielder Hameur Bouazza for two bookable offences, the second for a rash challenge on City defender Franck Queudrue.

Lewington said: “He is not a malicious lad. He slid in a bit and the ref has only one chance to look at things. His foot is not high but there is contact so we are not going to complain about that.”

Blues mananger Alex McLeish felt his side deserved a share of the spoils after their second-half revival and is encouraged by what he has witnessed during his opening six games in charge.

The former Scotland manager said: “I have got to look at the big picture. We have taken eight points from six games and if we maintain that average we will be all right.

“Given the way we played in the first half a point is something we would have excepted but we produced a very assertive performance in the second half and could have won the game.

“The elements caused us problems in the first half in terms of the wind but we used in to our advantage in the second 45 minutes.

“There was a reaction from the players at half-time. They gave everything and the second half was more like the Middlesbrough performance of Boxing Day.”

Birmingham skipper Damien Johnson had to be substituted at half-time with a jaw injury but McLeish was happy with the contribution of his replacement Mehdi Nafti.

He said: “We did say we needed a bit of composure in midfield and Jonty had an injury so the decision was made easy for me.

“Nafti’s composure settled us down. Jonty has got a problem with his jaw. He took a whack on it.

“I cant tell you how bad it is at the moment but he was a bit groggy and we’ve sent him for x-rays.”