Roy Hodgson admits his Fulham side will have to show a dramatic improvement if they are to trouble Arsenal when the Gunners visit Craven Cottage on Saturday.

The Cottagers slumped to 14th in the Premier League table after falling to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at newly-promoted Wolves on Saturday, their third defeat in five league games this season.

And Hodgson is expecting a rapid turnaround from his side.

He said: “The Wolves game was a performance that for 60 minutes was very unusual.

“I have not seen us give the ball away quite so easily in a very long time, and I hope that it was a one-off.

“We showed some character to come back into the game and we could have snatched something in the end, but it was a very frustrating display overall and one I do not wish to see repeated.”

Danny Murphy struck a late penalty after Bobby Zamora was fouled but it was too little too late.

And Hodgson accepted that in the continued absence of the injured Andy Johnson, strikers Zamora, Diomansy Kamara and Erik Nevland must pick up the slack.

The Fulham boss added: “Football is all about taking your chances and we are not doing that.

“We are creating chances but not finishing them off, and when that happens you are likely to get punished.

“A few errors are also creeping into our game and that is something we must eradicate sooner rather than later.”

Hodgson also brushed off claims that his side looked tired after the Londoners returned from Bulgaria, where they opened their Europa League account with a creditable 1-1 draw at CSKA Sofia last Thursday.

He added: “I do not accept that at all - the only player that played at both Sofia and Wolves was John Pantsil, and the other players prepared for the Wolves game all week.

“So I really do not think tiredness was an issue, and we will certainly not be using that as an excuse.”

Fulham’s next three fixtures: Sep 26 Arsenal (h), Oct 1 Basle (EL, h), 4 West Ham (a)