Fulham, Reading and Brum prepare to avoid drop

Updated: May 9, 2008, 7:57 AM EST 5 comments

Fulham is in the best position for survival, but the only way to be sure is to win at Portsmouth. Pompey has one eye on its FA Cup final date against Cardiff a week later.

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"I don't think any of the three teams involved, ourselves, Birmingham and Reading can do any more than go on the field, do our best and hope that the football gods smile upon us," Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said.

"We are under exactly the same pressure as the other two teams. Not one of us will happily relish the thought of dropping down in the championship. We all want to stay."

Hodgson took over at Fulham in December - replacing Lawrie Sanchez, who was fired after eight months in charge. Until last Saturday - when Fulham beat Birmingham 2-0 - Hodgson had never been out of the relegation zone while manager of the London side.

"We've been dead and buried for a long time, but it's nice now to at least have a chance going into the final game," Hodgson said. "It's a tough task for us to beat Portsmouth at Fratton Park but we've got to be happy that we still have that possibility. For a long time, it didn't look like were going to have that possibility."

Fulham fans celebrated after the Birmingham win, something that surprised Hodgson, given the club also flirted with relegation last season.

"We still can go into the championship and there's still a very big risk," Hodgson said. "That reception was probably the biggest pressure put upon us because we realized how important it was to people ...

"I thought the fans might still be a little bit disappointed that over the course of the season we hadn't given them as many games of that type and we are in danger of relegation."

Fulham was promoted to the Premier League in 2001, four years after the club was taken over by Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, the owner of department store Harrods.

Fulham, which has 33 points for 17th place, has a better goal difference that 18th-place Reading.

The Royals are at last-place Derby, which has already been relegated with the worst-ever points total in the 16-year history of the Premier League.

Reading chairman John Madejski said the pressure was on Fulham.

"We must win against Derby," Madejski said. "Whether that will be enough to avoid relegation is in the lap of the gods, but at least we'd be able to come out of it with some pride and dignity."

Reading was promoted to the Premier League in 2006 and finished that season in eighth, but hasn't enjoyed the same spark this season and has failed to win in its past six games.

"I have had faith in them, that still remains," Reading manager Steve Coppell said of his team. "We have got one game to achieve our ambition this year. If we do it, what a day it will be."

Birmingham, which has 32 points for 19th place, will have to rely on a win against Blackburn, and for Reading and Fulham to lose to avoid relegation. The Blues ended a four-year stint in the Premier League in 2006, and had one year in the League Championship before being promoted again for this season.

Birmingham's troubles follow a failed takeover of the club by Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung.

The three months of uncertainty led to manager Steve Bruce leaving to join Wigan when Yeung refused to sanction a new contract. Alex McLeish took over as manager in November.

"To be involved in a takeover bid and to lose your manager - you almost have to start over again," Birmingham chairman David Gold said. "The takeover bid collapsed. That in itself was traumatic."