Roy Hodgson believes the experience within his struggling Fulham side might just bring an end to an 18-month away-day hoodoo.Fulham have eight games left to secure their Premier League survival but five of them are away from Craven Cottage.

Their travel sickness stretches back over the last 18 months but Hodgson is hoping the dismal run will end with victory over fellow strugglers Newcastle at St James' Park on Saturday.

The heart of Hodgson's team contains seasoned professionals who have played at the highest level, both on the international and domestic scene and the Fulham boss sees that as a crucial element against Kevin Keegan's side.

"I have the utmost respect for the club, the manager, the staff and the quality of players," said Hodgson.

"I worked with Damien Duff at Blackburn so I know what a good player he is. You can go through them all. They've all cost a lot of money and they're seasoned internationals.

"People like Michael Owen and Mark Viduka need no recommendations from anybody. Often when you play Premier teams that is the case. You look at the opposing team, their bench and the possibilities and you'd be a fool if you didn't respect them.

"We know it's going to be a tough game but we've got ourselves in a tough position so unfortunately every game is a tough game. We can look at it and say 'it's a difficult task in a cauldron and it's going to be hard for us' or we can also look at is as a great opportunity - a great chance to break the hoodoo.

"I think there's a lot of experience in the team and that counts in these matches. I think the fact that people have been there before and used to playing at this level or something similar - that's important.

"It would be very difficult to go to Newcastle with a young, inexperienced team having difficulties in the League."

In the meantime, Hodgson has not ruled out a return to action for veteran striker Jari Litmanen in the run-in.

The 37-year-old striker has been hampered by a recent heart scare but the Finland international is now back in training and Hodgson has not ruled him out of his plans.

Litmanen, dubbed 'The King' back home, has enough experience and pedigree to boost Fulham's survival hopes after collecting a record number of caps for his country as well as being the country's all-time top goalscorer.

Former Finland boss Hodgson knows the striker could prove to be the 'joker' in his pack with eight games remaining.

"To know Jari Litmanen as I did, having worked with him, and to know we could get him here was just a great joker to play in our pack," said Hodgson.

"At the moment, because he hasn't been fully able to get himself fit to figure, it's not been a fortunate joker but still a good one to have around.

"You can't have too many front players. They're the ones that injuries happen to and they lose form, so you can never have too many going into a situation like we are.

"I'm delighted to have Jari around. He is playing with his usual enthusiasm. He's certainly not match fit but he might just get there.

"I'm lucky in the sense that with Brian McBride and Eddie Johnson doing well, I don't miss Jari quite so much as I may have done had it been a disastrous situation.

"But I can be more relaxed about it because the other guys are doing okay."

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