ROY HODGSON, the new Fulham manager, sat in the stands and saw for himself the brutal reality of his team’s inherent weakness. Officially, he will take charge today at Craven Cottage but for the eighth time out of nine games in which Fulham have taken the lead this season they failed to retain their advantage, an alarming lack of resilience which could be ominous in their upcoming battle to stave off the threat of relegation.

Carlos Bocanegra, with his first goal of the season, headed the visitors into an early lead and for much of the first half they dominated.

Birmingham remained strangely subdued but the Cottagers could not increase their advantage. In a role reversal in the second half, with the windy conditions contributing, the Blues hit back with Sebastian Larsson scoring an equaliser, aided by a deflection off Elliot Omozusi. Hameur Bouazza’s sending off for two bookable offences, the second a needless and reckless challenge on Franck Queudrue, further undermined Fulham before the finish and only consistent quality defending by Dejan Stefanovic and a brilliant acrobatic save by Antti Niemi from a volley by Queudrue prevented Fulham from leaving empty-handed.

Hodgson will know already that he needs to inject confidence and introduce new blood to transform the campaign.

“He will look at the squad and I’m sure he’ll be encouraged by what he saw today in terms of spirit and the way we play,” said Ray Lewington, who had temporary charge of the team in the wake of Lawrie Sanchez’ dismissal. “He will think the balance is wrong, which is something that I believe. We have got good players but too many similar players. It’s the mixture of players and not their quality which is not right. But we played really well in the first half, created several good opportunities and just needed a second goal and probably deserved it but we didn’t get it.”

Fulham remain without an away win since September 9 last year when they defeated Newcas-tle 2-1. Out of a possible 81 points available on the road since that victory, Fulham have secured only 12.

Hodgson will have been more pleased by the pace and penetration and also the crisp passing demonstrated in the opening half. David Healy might have scored in the first minute when he secured a loose ball on the left side of the penalty area and shot towards the far post but his aim was just awry. Gary McSheffrey then squandered a chance for Birmingham after Mikael Forssell’s pass released him from the halfway line. Though he dragged the ball past Paul Konchesky, the defender stayed with him and applied enough pressure to force the Birmingham winger into shooting over.

Fulham’s urgency generated a force Birmingham struggled to contain and when Bouazza won a corner kick off Stephen Kelly the breakthrough came. Simon Davies swung the corner in to the near post where Bocanegra got ahead of his marker to steer his header past Maik Taylor.

A quick burst of acceleration by Larsson propelled him down the left and he delivered a dangerous cross which had to be headed away sharply by Stefanovic. Cameron Jerome forced Niemi to drop to his left to save his low shot before Taylor had to clear from another Davies delivery at the other end.

Bouazza continued to threaten for Fulham on the left and a cross driven into the near post by the Frenchman had to be headed away by Radhi Jaidi at the expense of a corner kick. The nearest Birmingham came to an equaliser was a 25-yard free kick by McSheffrey which just cleared the angle of post and crossbar. Moments later Forssell managed to turn swiftly inside the box and shoot but Niemi saved, and Taylor denied Clint Dempsey just before the break.

Birmingham were better in the second half and when Fabrice Muamba managed to delay his pass to release Larsson for an assault on the Fulham box the visitors’ defence was stretched to breaking point. Omozusi managed to get back but lost his bearings as Larsson turned inside on the edge of the penalty area to shoot. Omozusi overcompensated for his error and got a touch on the ball but the deflection ensured Niemi was beaten.

Out of 35 goals conceded by Fulham in the Premier League this term, 28 have come in the second half. Substitute Mehdi Nafti made a difference and he unleashed a powerful 20-yard shot which went just over before Niemi made two excellent saves. McSheffrey’s free kick, well-struck from the right and just outside the penalty area, was punched away by the Fulham goalkeeper. The ball fell to Franck Queudrue, whose volley forced an acrobatic save.

“Given the way we played in the first half, a point was something we’d have accepted,” said Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager. “I expect to do business in the January transfer window and I’m doing some groundwork now. The sooner we can get in some people to help these lads the better.”

Match stats Star man: Dejan Stefanovic (Fulham)

Scorers

Player ratings

Birmingham: Taylor 6, Kelly 6, Jaidi 7, Ridgewell 7, Queudrue 6, McSheffrey 7, Muamba 6, Johnson 6 (Nafti ht), Larsson 7 (De Ridder 72min), Jerome 6, Forssell 6 (O’Connor 76min)

Fulham: Niemi 8, Omozusi 6, Bocanegra 7, Stefanovic 8, Konchesky 6, Davies 7, Murphy 7 (Smertin 70min), Davis 6, Bouazza 6 Dempsey 6, Healy 7 (Kuqi 74min)