Having looked at the line-up that Roy Hodgson fielded in Fulham's Europa League group stage debut against CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria, I wondered to myself whether the Cottagers were taking this competition seriously. Only keeper David Stockdale and John Paintsil remained in the line-up from Sunday's 2-1 win over Everton. Instead, the likes of 19-year-old central defender Chris Smalling and Stephen Kelly were in the starting line-up in Bulgaria.

While the Cottagers did draw the match 1-1, the bigger question I have is whether the line-up fielded by Roy Hodgson is the type of line-up we will see throughout each of the remaining group stage matches?

There were some solid reserves in the team. Diomansy Kamara, who scored the equalizing goal started and played as did Jonathan Greening, Zoltan Gera, Simon Davies and Erik Nevland. While these players do have some quality, they are a far cry from Andy Johnson, Brede Hangeland, Aaron Hughes and Danny Murphy.

The result was a good one but if Hodgson continued to field a line-up like this I feel the group stage is as far as this Fulham team will advance in this competition with the likes of Basel and Roma also in this group.

Hodgson did say before the match that the Premier League is the priority for the club, and I agree with him. But I would think playing in Europe would be an exciting adventure for the club where he could mesh line-ups with a few more regulars and some reserves rather than a squad full of reserves as we saw for the most part today.

Fulham does not have the most depth in the squad and that has been pointed out all through the summer months leading up to the Europa League debut in late July. Hodgson did add some players over the summer with the hopes of giving the club a bit more strength in all areas of the pitch. He did that, but there is definitely a clear difference in most of the regulars and the reserves.

Having watched Martin O'Neill field a similar weakened line-up during last season's UEFA Cup to the dismay of Villa fans, I wonder if Hodgson is doing the same thing here. Is it me, or does it seem as though the clubs from the bigger leagues in Europe do not take this competition as seriously as the club's from small end Europe. In fact, the two last winners of the UEFA Cup were Shakhtar Donetsk and Zenit St. Petersburg. While Shakhtar and Zenit St. Petersburg are solid clubs, the leagues they represented were not up to the quality of the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga or Serie A. Maybe those clubs like Zenit and Shakhtar were using this competition as a springboard to bigger and better things both domestically and abroad. It was used to lure in new players and establish the clubs as legitimate threats in both the Europa League and Champions League matches.

I am not saying Fulham needs to do this or even can do this, but it would be nice to see the club give it their all in this competition. I know Fulham has a match on Sunday against Wolves, but I would think Hodgson would have been able to field a few regulars in Thursday's match. Unfortunately that was the not the case and I get the feeling we will see similar line-ups the rest of the way through the group stage.

One last thing is that I get the feeling this competition means more to the supporters than it does for the club itself. It is icing on the cake for a job well done last season but means very little to Fulham's big picture. Supporters take trips to all parts of Europe to see the club play in places like Bulgaria, Russia, Belgium, etc. It is a great excuse to see new, less travelled parts of Europe for supporters and at the same time, they get to watch their club play in a big European competition. However, in looking at Fulham on Thursday, I get the feeling as though this competition is just getting in the way of the bigger and more prized Premier League.

I would hate to see Fulham get relegated this season but in looking around the Premier League, I think the Cottagers are well above the other clubs that will be duking it out at the foot of the table. Thus, I would like to see Roy give the supporters a bit more in terms of the line-up going forward in this competition. I do not think it is asking too much and I do not think Fulham is risking that much playing more regulars in this competition. With the new riches of Manchester City and the likes of Tottenham and others playing well to start the season, who knows if and when Fulham will get another crack at a European competition like this. Thus, I would like to see the club make the most of this chance. I do not think that is asking too much. Do you?

So, what were your thoughts on the line-up today? Were you okay with it? What do you the club doing line-up wise going forward in the Europa League?