Hodgson hopes to splash Fulham cash in summer

Roy Hodgson is hoping Fulham owner Mohamed Al Fayed has deep pockets when they discuss how to take the Cottagers' depleted squad forward next season.

Fulham agreed to sell England Under-21 defender Chris Smalling to Manchester United last month, with the £7million transfer set to go through in the summer.

By then, Hodgson hopes Al Fayed will once again give the club his support.

The Cottagers boss said: "The chairman has been very supportive throughout and I have no reason to think he won't be.

"We made decisions in this transfer window which were for the good of the club, not just the short term, but the long-term good.

"We are fully aware that if we are to do as well as we have done in the last year and a half then we will need some help in the summer.

"That will probably mean we will be seeking some quality additions to the squad as we've run the squad right down.

"We have between now and the summer to identify targets and persuade the chairman that all the support he has given in the past isn't yet finished, and he has to keep going."

Hodgson added: "A lot of the money that I have spent in my couple of years has actually been recouped, in part by the sale of Smalling.

"Of course that doesn't help the chairman, because all the money he has put in in the past hasn't been.

"However, I am still asking him to put money onto money and I am aware of that."