Martin Jol Manager of Fulham

Whites chief talks up importance of Saturday’s west London derby

Fulham boss Martin Jol says this Saturday's west London derby is a bigger game for The Whites than facing Chelsea.

Jol's side were 6-0 victors in their encounter at Craven Cottage earlier in the season, but will have to face former striker Bobby Zamora- who scored that day- as well as former manager, Mark Hughes.

"Bobby deserves praise because he played for us and was a very good servant for the club," Jol said.

"Hopefully the QPR fans will think the same of him in a few years. I always want to focus our fans on our team.

"In the first game against QPR you felt the sort of feeling that this was new. It was a derby game and I feel if you look at the reactions after the game from our fans, it is a big game now and in the future.

"In the past I think it was a good derby game but it is now probably a bigger derby game than Chelsea."

A victory for the Whites could see them jump into the top half of the Premier League table, however Jol's side have managed just one win on the road all season.

"We have a lot of supporters going there," the Dutchman said. "We focus on that and we will focus on our away form because that is not great.

"If you look at the form positively, you can say we didnt lose six out of the 12 away games but it is not the best away form.

"Hopefully we can change that and make it a structural thing on winning away."