Fulham 1 Southampton 1: Nigel Adkins happy with ‘important’ point

Nigel Adkins declared himself pleased with an “important” point after Southampton came from behind to earn a draw at Fulham and lift themselves out of the relegation zone.

Fulham had taken the lead in the eighth minute at Craven Cottage, when striker Dimitar Berbatov found the net after Saints goalkeeper Kelvin Davis could only parry a cross.

But Lambert’s men claimed a deserved point in the 85th minute, when Rickie Lambert smashed home his penalty after Chris Baird was penalised for handball.

“Any point picked up in the Premier League is an important one especially after going behind and we put the ball in good areas,” Lambert told BBC Sport.

“We have a lot of players who have not played at this level before and we had to learn quickly, and we have done that. We are not getting punished as much as we were doing early on in the season.”

Meanwhile, Fulham boss Martin Jol was furious with Baird’s handball as the Cottagers looked set to hold on to the three points.

He said: “It was a blatant handball and Chris Baird lost his head I think. He did it on purpose and there was no need for that five minutes from the end.”