THEY never said it was going to be easy to stay in the Premier League and here was a prime example of why that is the case.

Fulham are one of those teams who are far better at home than they are away from Craven Cottage.

In theory, this should have been a home banker - even Mark Lawrenson had us down for three points.

Instead, we can be grateful for getting the one we did.

Danny Higginbotham was extraordiarily lucky not to give away a penalty for handball, which given the nature of this tight contest might have produced the only goal.

And John Pantsill's disgraceful antics could have resulted in Ricardo Fuller being sent off, the Fulham full back going down as if he had been headbutted by our star striker.

It was as clear an attempt to get a fellow professional sent off as you will ever see.

He should be banned for several games, but does anyone else have faith in the FA doing anything? I certainly don't.

Looking on the bright side, we now have 20 points and a similar return in the rest of the season will give us a fighting chance of staying up.

Next up are a Blackburn side struggling for form and confidence.

But after that, strap yourselves in folks for a tough time. Manchester United at home on Boxing Day.

Don't you just love this league?