Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez is confident of a big season ahead.

"I would expect us not to be in the same situation as we found ourselves last season," Sanchez told BBC Sport.

"With the introduction of players we've had, we'll be more competitive than last season, that's for sure."

Fulham have signed Aaron Hughes, Steven Davis, Chris Baird, David Healy, Diomansy Kamara, Paul Konchesky and Lee Cook in the off season.

And Sanchez, who was handed a £20m transfer chest by Fulham owner Mohammed Al Fayed, revealed he expected to sign "two or three more players" before the start of the season.

"We've had a lot of change in the summer and the fans are sitting there saying, 'well, prove you're good enough'," said Sanchez.

"I'm not a seer, I can't see what's going to happen but all I can go on is past experience.

"I kept Wycombe in their division and had a great cup run when I was manager there. And I took over Northern Ireland when they were in their worst [ranked] position in world football and took them back to the mid 20s.

"Now my job is to do that again and I'd like to think we can surprise one or two people this season."