Roy Hodgson hopes a convincing FA Cup opener will lift flagging spirits at Fulham but admits the competition is only a sideshow.Struggling League One club Bristol Rovers provide the opposition in Sunday's third-round tie and new Cottagers boss Hodgson is eager to preside over a morale-boosting cup run.

But with the spectre of relegation from the Premier League hanging over Craven Cottage, Hodgson insists there is no doubt where his priorities lie.

"The players' desire to do well is good, it's just we haven't been playing well enough to get the points," he said.

"I'm hoping that tomorrow will improve out confidence and show our fans that we're going forward.

"If that happens and we go on a run, then great. But Premiership survival still has to be our focus.

"I don't want to say the FA Cup is a diversion because I don't want to belittle the importance of the competition.

"But if I had to choose between Premiership survival or a fantastic run in the FA Cup, I would opt for the former.

"Of course the ideal would be a mixture of the two - doing something in the cup to give us the lift we need in the league."

Hodgson is ready to invest in the transfer window to bring in the reinforcements he believes are necessary if Fulham are to escape relegation.

But the well-travelled 60-year-old is eager to give every member of the current squad the opportunity to convince him they deserve to figure in his future plans.

"This FA Cup match is another chance for me to see the players in a competitive situation," he said.

"At the moment we are limited in terms of personnel because of injuries to key players such as Brian McBride and Jimmy Bullard.

"For those players that are selected tomorrow's game is great chance for them to show me they are the ones to lead us out of trouble."

Hodgson is reported to have a £15million transfer kitty, with chairman Mohamed Al Fayed refusing to contemplate relegation to the Coca-Cola Championship.

But the former Inter Milan coach insists he will be exercising caution when it comes to spending Al Fayed's cash.

"The January transfer window is a dangerous time. It's a hectic time and teams have the tendency to panic buy," he said.

"We've got to be wise. I wouldn't like to be bringing players on a sort of short term basis.

"We need players who will make us much better in the last third of the season to help keep us in the league.

"Also, they need to be good enough for next season when we are trying to build an even stronger team.

"Now that's a tough task because a lot of the players being flagged up don't necessarily have that pedigree you can be 100% certain of.

"We have to be careful. If the players are there that can make us a lot better, then bring them on.

"But we won't be panicked into buying people who won't help us do any better and who will only make our squad bigger."

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