Jokanovic insists Fulham do not have advantage over Cardiff

Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic insists his side do not have an advantage over Cardiff in the Championship promotion race despite moving above them following a 1-0 victory over Reading.

Stefan Johansen’s first-half goal ensured the Cottagers earned a nervy victory and combined with Cardiff’s defeat at Aston Villa they moved to up to second place.

But Jokanovic, who saw his side guarantee a top-six finish, said: “The table’s not important, the situation is still not under our control as Cardiff have one game more. This is the situation. We are not thinking so much about the position.

“On one hand we’ve guaranteed one target, the play-offs. The next step is the Brentford game and we will be aiming to win the game.

“We are really satisfied. We had a lot of desire but were not clinical enough. We showed our ambition to win the game. We know we must be ready for the next step.

“I don’t know how Cardiff feel. We’ve made our first target. We need to be ready for our next step. Everything is in their hands and we want to make it our job to put them under pressure.

“It’s possible many things and we need to be ready for next step.

“We must be calm and show desire and ambition. We still need to recover ourselves and try and win the next three points. But this is a crazy competition.”

Johansen scored the winner in the 25th minute from Matt Targett’s cross but could not break Reading down otherwise and it was not until Leandro Bacuna’s red card for an injury time lunge at Ryan Sessegnon that victory could be contemplated.

“I’m disappointed with the red card,” said Reading manager Paul Clement.