There was no hiding Jimmy Bullard's joy after he scored Fulham's glorious late winner against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.The midfielder was sporting a bruised nose, courtesy of a midweek training ground bust-up with team-mate Chris Baird - but after the Cottagers' 2-1 Premier League victory on Sunday, pain could not dull the utter elation of scoring his first goal since a serious knee injury threatened to curtail his career.

Bullard's battle back to fitness has been remarkable, and the fact that he was out on the pitch at all is testament to his resilience and bravery during some dark days.

It is his fighting spirit that could now provide the spark for Fulham to save themselves from the drop.

"I just could not believe it," said Bullard.

"Just to be out there and kicking a ball, let alone scoring, it is just fantastic. I just can't believe it.

"I just put everything in I can. It is massive (that) we build on this now. There are still a lot of points to play for. We know we are in a fight - but if we play like that every week, we will be fine.

"We don't want to be down there. Every ball that goes into the box, you are fighting for your life. The boys at the back were fantastic. For the last five minutes, I couldn't play - my legs had gone.

"We still believed, even though we went a goal down. We dug in deep and got two goals. We thoroughly deserved the win."

Bullard's performance was matched by those of three new signings Roy Hodgson has made in a bid to keep his club in the top flight.

Among them was defender Brede Hangeland, who made an impressive difference to Fulham's rearguard - keeping John Carew and Marlon Harewood quiet for much of the game at Craven Cottage.

The Norwegian was with Hodgson at Viking FC and believes the new boss has all the credentials required to keep Fulham up.

"When I worked with him in Norway we were in a similar situation to the one that Fulham find themselves in now - and he did a really good job in turning fortunes around," Hangeland recalled.

"He organised the team well, got us working hard for each other - and we managed to save our position in the top league for the following season. Let's hope he can do it again with Fulham.

"It is always an advantage when you come to a new club and you know the manager - because as he knows your game, your strengths, and you also know his qualities and feel good about working for him.

"From my point of view, he is just a very good manager; he knows the game very well and knows what it takes to get the best from the players and to get points on the board when it seems most unlikely."

Villa boss Martin O'Neill was left annoyed and frustrated with his team's inability to defend the 68th-minute lead given to them by an own goal from Fulham captain Aaron Hughes.

Simon Davies levelled four minutes later, before Bullard's belter settled it.

O'Neill said: "We got ourselves in front and we should have been able to see it through. We didn't defend their equalising goal well at all.

"The game was there for the winning, and that's the most disappointing thing of all.

"We didn't play well - fine, I accept that - but Fulham didn't really create anything either throughout the course of the game.

"It's annoying, particularly since we managed to get ourselves in front.

"The first half was a non-event, but the onus is on them as the home side to go out and try and do something. That's what we try to do home and away, and for that reason I think an opportunity was lost."

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