Fulham winger spurred on by Wolfsburg woes
Dejagah confident of avoiding the drop ahead of trip to Arsenal
Jacob Murtagh
Determined: Fulham winger Ashkan Dejagah
Ashkan Dejagah will draw on his Wolfsburg woes in a bid to keep Fulham in the Premier League.
The Iranian winger was part of the Wolves side that escaped the drop in Germany's Bundesliga by the skin of their teeth in 2011, with three wins from their final four games steering them to safety.
Dejagah faces another basement battle with the Cottagers this campaign after a poor first half of the season.
Rene Meulensteen's men travel to league leaders Arsenal tomorrow just a point clear of the relegation places.
But Dejagah insists he has the stomach for another survival scrap.
He said: "It's not a good situation for us at the moment. There are a lot of teams fighting against relegation. I was in the same situation once with Wolfsburg. It's hard, but we managed to stay up.
"We have a good team and good players. If we all concentrate we can do it."
No fear: Dejagah says the Cottagers won't go to the Emirates and shut-up shop
Fulham face an Arsenal side who have won four games on the spin to tighten their grip at the top.
But Dejagah says the Whites will take heart from their performance at the Emirates last season when they held the Gunners to a 3-3 draw.
"Arsenal are playing very good football this season," he said. "It's hard to play there but we drew last year so anything can happen in football.
"We have to fight and we'll go there and stick together. It's not easy to get points there - they have a chance to win the league this season.
"But we're not going into it expecting to lose. We want to get something from the game."
Brede Hangeland's return to fitness will help boost a struggling Fulham defence that has conceded 46 goals in just 21 games – the most in the league.
And Dejagah says Hangeland's comeback has given the whole club a massive lift.
He added: "Brede's an important player for us. He has a lot of experience and we need him. He showed against Norwich what a good player he is. He's a leader and we're happy he is back."
Rene Meulensteen