Fulham boss Roy Hodgson was delighted for chairman Mohamed al Fayed after seeing new strikers Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson both impress in Saturday's win over Bolton. "The chairman has had his fingers burnt because in the past he spent quite a lot of money on players who left without giving a great return," said the Fulham boss.

"One of the things I've tried to persuade him is that we do need to invest in certain key players. Unfortunately those key players don't come cheaply.

"You don't buy strikers of the quality of Bobby Zamora and Andrew Johnson without spending money - that's the bottom line.

"I've tried to persuade the chairman that this investment now could see the club in good stead over the next couple of years.

"I didn't want to be going to him every year and saying 'You know that £15million to £20million we spent last year, well that was a waste of money. Can I have some more to start again?'

"I wanted a team that will last more than one season and that might need topping up in certain areas every now and again."