Jol attempts to defend Stockdale

Martin Jol refused to "blame" David Stockdale for Fulham's 2-1 defeat to Swansea but insisted his goalkeeper's blunders were the only reason his side were sucked ever closer to the Barclays Premier League drop zone.

Jol compared Stockdale's errors to a "Christmas gift" as he handed the Swans a 2-0 lead from which the Cottagers never recovered.

Stockdale was making his first Premier League start for almost 11 months following an injury to Mark Schwarzer and manager Jol said: "I can't blame 90 per cent of my players. They gave everything, they did everything. The only one who didn't have the best Christmas Day was my goalkeeper and he's a very good goalkeeper. I won't blame him but you can see that we gave them the two goals - simple."

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