Fulham director Michael Cole is confident manager Roy Hodgson will be staying at Craven Cottage.

Hodgson revealed his desperate disappointment after the match but is expecting to fulfil his contract and be in charge of the club for the 2010-11 Barclays Premier League season.

And Cole insisted this morning: "He is integral to the club, a very great manager. And as (club owner) Mohamed al Fayed has said, he's more than a manager - he's a very great human being.

"We do think he will stay and I think he'll be at Fulham because essentially he has what every manager says he wants - a free hand and the confidence of the chairman. By and large he gets the support he requires in the way he wants it."