CHERRIES remain just two points behind Championship leaders Fulham after the Cottagers fell to a shock 1-0 defeat at home against Sheffield United.

Iliman Ndiaye scored the goal which lifted the Blades to within three points of the play-off places.

Scott Parker’s side are winless in their past six Championship outings, but still remain well in touch of the leaders, who themselves have faltered as the division reaches the halfway point.

Disappointed Fulham manager Marco Silva said: “It wasn’t our best performance definitely. We had a lot of unforced errors and didn’t create the problems that we should have created for them.

“We try to perform better than our opponents but the main thing we should do is do it our way. We didn’t do it our way.

“The main reason is clear for me. We did so many good things so far this season and we did the right things until now. This was a really bad evening, not because of the result but because of the way we played.

“We have to analyse it now and prepare the game against Birmingham on Boxing Day.”

Winless in five themselves, Fulham still head the pack with 43 points ahead of Cherries (43).

In-form Blackburn (42) and West Bromwich Albion (41) make up the top four – each team has played 23 games.