Fulham boss Roy Hodgson was delighted to overcome Accrington Stanley with their 3-1 win in the FA Cup.

Despite taking a 21st-minute lead through Erik Nevland, the Cottagers were outplayed for much of the first half by their League Two opponents, who equalised within four minutes thanks to top-scorer Michael Symes.

It was only once Stanley defender Darran Kempson had been sent off just before the break for a challenge on Zoltan Gera that the Barclays Premier League side really began to assert themselves.

Second-half strikes from Damien Duff and Gera sealed a 3-1 victory which was comfortable in the end for Fulham, but Hodgson readily acknowledged that his team had been unsettled by Accrington's early endeavour on the bobbly surface.

"I don't think we adapted very well to the conditions in the beginning of the game," Hodgson said.

"A number of balls just ballooned into our final third. Accrington played a lot of football through the midfield and we weren't quite expecting that every ball would be lashed forward.

"So credit to Accrington, they made it very difficult for us to get those balls out.

"They made life very difficult for us but in the second half we showed them more of our qualities and ended up winning the game relatively comfortably.

"All credit to Accrington for the magnificent show they put up."