Reading some of the emails and comments I received in the past two weeks it seems as though there really were some Fulham supporters out there who thought the Cottagers had a good chance of defeating Manchester United on Saturday in the FA Cup quarterfinals. While I commend the optimism and all, I would suggest laying off the Fulham kool-aid for the remainder of the season. Fulham was thrashed 4-0 and their hopes of returning to Wembley for the first time since 1975 vanished in a heartbeat.

I had very little hope of Fulham getting a positive result in this match. My only positive thought was that Manchester United might field a "weakened" side in preperations for their Champions League tilt with Inter Milan on Wednesday. But upon seeing the lineups before the match, any hope I had disappeared. The Red Devils were fielding a very strong side. The only players noticably absent from Sir Alex Ferguson's lineup were Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs. With the depth of the current United squad, this was not a problem against a Fulham team that does not have any advantages on the pitch against a team gunning for an unprecedented quintuple of trophies to add to the already large trophy case at Old Trafford.

So, the FA Cup is in the rearviewmirror and the focus rightly turns back to the league where the Cottagers will host Blackburn on Wednesday. After a league loss last week at home to Hull City, the Blackburn match becomes even more important. Earlier in the season Blackburn was a team that had little to no identity, but with the appointment of Sam Allardyce as manager, this team seems to have found itself some and have been a tough club to beat with Allardyce in charge.

Fulham will have its hands full on Wednesday and will need a solid performance from all players to get a win. With upcoming matches against Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City in the next few weeks, wins will be at a premium and in order for the Cottagers to keep their current position of 9th, they will have to be firing on all cylinders on the pitch. That means the defense, the midfield and the goal scorers are all going to have to contribute equally going forward. Defenders will have to stop at nothing to prevent goals, midfielders will have to battle to earn and control possession while the strike force will have to capitalize on scoring chances by putting the ball in the back of the net.

On paper, Fulham may not have be a top ten team in the Premier League, but this team is a great example of one where the sum of the parts is greater than the individuals who comprise the squad. That is not to take away from the talent base on this team, rather it is a compliment to the job Roy Hodgson has done in his time in charge of the team.

Hodgson will have his hands full over the course of the next three months trying to get this club to finish the season not just by avoiding relegation, but by finishing inside the top ten. While it seems every time I comment on Fulham I am talking about the top ten, I feel it is a realistic goal and one that should be achieved this season. For the first time in quite some time, we are in March and thoughts of relegation are not in the minds of Cottager supporters everywhere. This is an ultra-competitive league and outside the top four or five, any team can beat any other team on any given matchday. That said, winning matches will require strong play from the Cottagers against any and all opponents.

I still believe a top ten finish is in the cards for this Fulham team but there will be some nervy moments over the remaining part of the season watching to see if this aspiration becomes a reality.

Is the top ten in the cards for Fulham? If yes, what makes you say that? If no, what is holding them back?