'We have been the architects of our own downfall'

Football's oldest cliche - it is a game of two halves - never rang truer than on Saturday.

In the first 45 minutes, Fulham played some of their best football of the season. A strong starting XI was complemented by an equally impressive bench as we finally emerged from the other side of our injury crisis.

It was a squad so packed with talent that defender Issa Diop and captain Tom Cairney were forced to watch from the stands.

But as we tucked into our half-time pies, there was a foreboding sense of inevitability around Craven Cottage.

Yes, we were a goal to the good, but a string of missed opportunities, punctuated by a pair of crossbar-rattlers and Raul Jimenez's decision to scuff a shot when Harry Wilson didn't have a player within 10 yards of him, meant we could all tell what was coming.

Far too often this season - as in previous campaigns - we have been the architects of our own downfall.

When Bernd Leno knocked Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's corner into his own net, it marked the seventh game this season that we have conceded one or more goals in the final 10 minutes of a game.

That has cost us 12 points. And while I am not expecting Fulham to be an infallible side that sits inside the top four - which is where we would be if we had not dropped those points - losing control in more than a third of our games leads me to wonder whether we are set for another season of missed opportunity.

It does not get any easier, with Manchester City coming up on Wednesday.

A loss at the Etihad would mark the 20th straight defeat against Pep Guardiola's side.

On paper, we know what will happen. But to use another famous cliche (thank you, Brian Clough), the game is played on grass.

Find more from Drew Heatley at Fulhamish