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Ademola display encourages Parker amid League Cup flop - as Fulham boss backs his players

By Yann Tear

Scott Parker admitted a decent cameo from new signing Ademola Lookman was one of the few positives for Fulham on a night where they crashed out of the League Cup at Brentford.

The former Charlton and Everton striker is on loan from RB Leipzig and although still only 22, looking to revive a career that has stalled in Germany after a good start for the Bundesliga outfit.

He looked lively and set up one good goal chance while inspiring the best spell the Whites mustered at the start of the second half before they succumbed to a sorry 3-0 defeat.

Parker knows that finding a far more solid defensive structure remains the priority and the focus of the remaining days of the transfer window, but he is mindful that attacking options will be vital too if his side are to survive in the top flight.

“I thought he looked really sharp,” said Fulham’s head coach of Lookman. “He’s not had a lot of football and I thought for the first 25 minutes, he looked every bit the player I remember at Everton and Charlton and the [early] period he had at Leipzig.

“He’s someone who’s definitely going to help us. We need to get him up to speed, that’s fair to say, and hopefully he can help us in the attacking area because we also need help there as well.”

Parker says his players need more time to adapt this season and refused to be overly harsh about their display against the side they beat in last season’s play-off final.

“It was a disappointing night,” he said. “But this is a team in transition. This is a team with players who have not played a lot in the Premier League, so they are learning. This is something new to them.

“Of course, when you go up into the Premier League you suddenly see at first hand the quality and you need to learn quick. You need to understand what you can get away with. In the Premier League, it’s very, very different. That’s part and parcel of the process. I don’t think you can just point the finger and say: ‘these players are not good enough.’

“We’ve lost three Premier League matches and the narrative around us is that it’s a disaster. But we’re not the only team that have lost three matches. Of course, there are issues that we need to resolve and we will do that hopefully. I’ve got a great bunch of players who are willing to learn and understand where we are going wrong.”

Kenny Tete will not be available for Sunday’s trip to Wolves. The 24-year-old £3m signing from Lyon picked up a knock on his debut against Aston Villa on Monday. Parker said he hoped to have the Dutchman back after the international break.

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