The moment of truth is here. If Fulham beat Birmingham City at Craven Cottage today, they could climb out of the relegation zone in the Barclays Premier League for the first time this year, but lose and they will almost certainly be playing in the Coca-Cola Championship next season.

Relegation was not what Mohamed Al Fayed, the Fulham chairman, had in mind when he gave Lawrie Sanchez £25 million to spend on new players last summer, although it was on the cards when Sanchez was replaced by Roy Hodgson in December. Another £10 million was spent on new players in January, but results did not start to improve until last month, when Hodgson’s team beat Reading and Manchester City to give themselves a chance of beating the drop.

“We have a small chance, but any chance is good to have at the moment,” Hodgson said. “We know we have to beat Birmingham and Portsmouth to stay up, but even that might not be enough.”

Al Fayed will be in the home dressing-room at 2.45pm today to rally his troops and urge them to give everything in one of the most important games in the club’s history.

“The chairman has a very inspirational style and I think the players will react to it very well,” Hodgson said. “The players are not foolish. They know who the most important man at the club is and he will be very well received.”

Hodgson has warned his players to expect a physical game and he believes that Birmingham will continue with their ploy of putting a man in front of the opposition goalkeeper at free kicks. Radhi Jaidi’s antics - the giant defender stands in an offside position and distracts the goalkeeper – have helped Birmingham to score from free kicks in their past two home games.

“I will have a word with the referee about it before the game,” Hodgson said. “I can’t understand how that can be justified. As far as I’m concerned a player is in an offside position when he does that, but some referees seem to think that he is not interfering with play.”

Although defeat would almost certainly lead to the end of Fulham’s seven-season stay in the top flight and cost the club about £30 million, Hodgson is confident that he will still be at Craven Cottage next season. “I have no regrets about coming here,” he said. “I would desperately like to be coaching Fulham next year in the Premier League, but if that does not happen, I would be prepared to coach them in the Championship.”

Hodgson’s standing in the game is so high – his coaching career has lasted 32 years and taken in 16 positions in eight countries – that he has been invited by Uefa to monitor matches during the European Championship finals next month as part of the governing body’s technical study group. “Being at Euro 2008 will give me plenty of scouting opportunities, but only if we are still in the Premier League,” Hodgson said. “We won’t attract players from that level to the Championship.”