Parker rues poor defending but hails Fulham’s ‘massive character’

Scott Parker admitted Fulham’s defending must improve following an extraordinary 3-3 draw at Luton.

A last-gasp equaliser by Bobby Decordova-Reid, who scored twice, rescued a point at Kenilworth Road.

But boss Parker has no doubt that his team need to cut out the mistakes if they are to sustain a promotion challenge.

He said: “Scoring four goals to win a football match is always going to be difficult.

“We were punished by two sucker-punches. I want us to play, but also smell and sense the game, and I felt we didn’t do that in the first half.”

An error by Tim Ream led to Fulham going behind after just five minutes.

After Ream gave the ball away, James Collins teed up Kazenga LuaLua, who fired home.

The Whites hit back just four minutes later courtesy of Decordova-Reid’s header from Ivan Cavaleiro’s superb cross from the right.

But more shoddy defending led to Luton regaining the lead just before the half-hour mark.

This time Fulham failed to deal with a free-kick and Collins was able to score from close range.

Fulham dominated much of the second half and Aleksandar Mitrovic hauled them level again with a 77th-minute header.

But another defensive aberration led to Luton going ahead for the third time.

Joe Bryan was unable to control Ream’s pass and Harry Cornick ran through to score.

The travelling fans went home happy after Decordova-Reid netted deep into injury time and Parker praised his team for their battling qualities.

“My team showed massive character, massive fight and a real determination,” he said.