Roy Hodgson has admitted that striker Jari Litmanen is a luxury he cannot afford as Fulham fight for their Premier League lives.Litmanen is in the squad for Saturday's clash with Sunderland at Craven Cottage but the Finland international is unlikely to figure.

Hodgson knows that when it comes to scrapping for survival, Litmanen is not that kind of player.

"I have got to be honest - at the moment, for all his quality, he is a luxury we can't afford," admitted Hodgson. "Our backs are against the wall and we are scrapping for points but he played well in the reserves the other day, which was very good, and he is great to have around.

"But he is not a relegation player, he is a quality forward."

Hodgson, meanwhile, insists Fulham can still prove their critics wrong and beat the drop.

Bookmakers and pundits have already consigned the Cottagers to relegation but Hodgson refuses to accept what others see as inevitable.

As he prepares for the crucial home clash with the Black Cats, Hodgson will not concede defeat until it is mathematically impossible to stay up.

"I am not prepared to say it is over until is," declared Hodgson. "We maintain we still have a good chance, we maintain that we can play well enough to get ourselves out of trouble and Saturday will be a great opportunity to show that.

"We have been written off for quite a long time now. The bookies have made us favourites to go down and the experts, or whatever you like to call them on television, say we are going down and speculate which team will join Fulham and Derby.

"I don't have to join that group of people - luckily I can maintain that there are enough games and points and if we take enough of those points we can still survive.

"Why should I accept that just because we are some points behind safety that we have no chance of reaching our goal?

"I am not prepared to throw in any towels until such time as there is no option for me but to do so.

"I might be a lone voice among the people who are writing us off but I am certainly not a lone voice here among the people at this football club. It is quite the opposite, my voice is being strengthened by the people around me."

Everyone may already consider Fulham to be relegation fodder but Hodgson insists he has not tried using it as a motivational tool with his players.

"We don't use that sort of thing," said Hodgson. "I don't personally use that as a motivational tool. I don't see signs among the players that they are feeling down. I don't see that.

"I have no reason to believe it is having a negative effect on us. But with every game where we are not getting closer to our goal, it is going to have a negative effect on belief and confidence.

"When we don't get a result we are all quite low but I still have belief we can stay up. I am not prepared to accept we are down."

More Football News from TEAMtalk