Scott Parker: Wins are a "stepping stone" for Championship challenge

Scott Parker believes back-to-back wins should give Fulham confidence in their quest for an immediate Premier League return.

The Cottagers' relegation to the Sky Bet Championship was confirmed three weeks ago but they have since restored some pride by beating Everton and Bournemouth.

Caretaker boss Parker, who replaced the sacked Claudio Ranieri seven games ago, has urged his players to focus on the future and not dwell on the pain of going down.

"You get relegated and ultimately there's disappointment, but at football clubs as quick as you have a disappointment, you look onto the next thing," said Parker.

"You can't hang around thinking what could have been, how things could be.

"The next thing is next season – performances, can we build?

"Winning is a habit and ultimately next year we're going to have to try and win as many games as we can because we've had a taste of this league and this is the league we want to be back in.

"We need to build from there and the last two performances have probably given us a little bit of a stepping stone to that target."

Aleksandar Mitrovic's second-half penalty earned Saturday's 1-0 success at Bournemouth.

Victory at the Vitality Stadium secured the west London club's first league away win in a year to ruin Eddie Howe's 500th game in management.

Cherries defender Nathan Ake thinks next weekend's trip to south-coast rivals Southampton provides an ideal opportunity to return to winnings ways.

"We just have to make sure we don't let this (defeat) affect us, it's the only thing you can do," the Holland international told afcb.co.uk. "You have to keep going, make sure we train well.

"I'm sure the fans want us to win over there at Southampton and we want that as well, so we have to make sure that we do.

"I think it's a perfect game to bounce back."