Hodgson delighted with charges April 26 2008
Fulham boss Roy Hodgson admitted he was almost ready to concede defeat in the battle to avoid the drop from the Premier League when his side hauled themselves back from the brink.
Trailing 2-0 at Manchester City with only 20 minutes to go, it is little wonder Hodgson was feeling so pessimistic.
But, from nowhere, Fulham hauled themselves level before substitute Diomansy Kamara smashed home an injury-time winner which sets up a relegation showdown with Birmingham next week.
"The task looked very difficult, if not impossible," said Hodgson.
"I always felt if we could get one goal the tie was not dead but had the game gone longer, City might just have protected their lead.
"I am told we were relegated at one point, although I did not know it at the time, but now we have given ourselves a big chance."
With Birmingham leading Liverpool and Bolton ahead at Tottenham, Fulham were indeed down. However, now they are very much in the thick of the fight again, even if Hodgson accepts the task is not exactly an easy one.
"I challenged the players not to lose the second half but they went far beyond that, even if I would have found it difficult to envisage," said the Cottagers chief.
"We have brought ourselves into some kind of contention when most people had written us off. It is not going to be easy but at least we have some hope."
While Hodgson made no apology for the victory, which he felt was deserved, for City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, it was a woeful end to a game which marked the return to Eastlands of owner Thaksin Shinawatra.
The former Thailand prime minister must have been all smiles when Stephen Ireland curled City into a 10th-minute lead.
Benjani Mwaruwari doubled the Blues' advantage not long afterwards and at that stage, with Fulham abject, it was difficult to see anything other than a home win that would have kept up the pressure on Everton and Aston Villa for a European berth.
Instead, the hosts simply fell apart once Kamara had grabbed a rather fortuitous goal when he somehow got the better of Vedran Corluka and the excellent Joe Hart.
"We have no-one to blame but ourselves," said Eriksson.
"The moment you think it is over; the moment you don't think you need come in behind the ball or be aggressive or don't defend as a team, anything is possible.
"We stopped playing and you can't do that against any team in the Premier League. We gave them the three points."
What it means for City long-term remains to be seen.
Eriksson is due to meet Thaksin for high-level talks which are due to outline plans for next season.
The City owner is clearly ambitious and believes City should have done better than they have this term, even if an extensive interview in the match programme re-states a belief in a three-year plan that should not deliver European football for another 12 months.
But it does not appear the summer will see a host of new signings.
"I know from what we have shown already this year that a top-six spot will not be too much pressure but to break into the top four will," said Thaksin.
"So that is when I will be prepared to spend a lot of money; to take us into the top four.
"The message is this: I will not be spending huge amounts of money this summer but next summer I will."
Whether Eriksson will be given charge of the cash remains to be seen, although the former England coach has remained bullish about his future and does not believe today's defeat would have any impact.
"Twenty minutes in almost one season cannot affect anything if you are looking at the overall picture," he said.
"But if it means we don't get into Europe it is a big disappointment."