Briggs speaks of Riise admiration

Matthew Briggs has admitted that he plays second fiddle to John Arne Riise with the Norwegian full-back looking particularly sharp and determined in training.

Briggs was talking to the official website after filling in for his team mate during Fulham's disappointing 1-0 Capital One Cup exit at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday.

The 21 year-old admitted that the game didn't go to plan and that his side didn't perform to anything like the standards that Martin Jol would normally expect.

"We came off at Old Trafford with our heads held high, but Sheffield Wednesday in the Cup was a different story last week," Briggs told fulhamfc.com.

"We knew it would be tough against them but we didn't perform as we should have. The penalty was harsh, but we never really did enough to win the game and everyone was really disappointed afterwards."

What followed that sordid affair was an even less impressive display at Upton Park, where Fulham conceded three in a poor first half. Andy Carroll had bossed the show for West Ham and Jol's men couldn't reduce the deficit, despite a more resilient display in the second period.

Briggs had to view the game from the dugout, as first choice left back John Arne Riise had returned from injury, and he wasn't pleased with what he witnessed.

"Watching from the bench at Upton Park - it wasn't good enough against West Ham. We got off to a terrible start and it was always going to be hard from that moment."

Yet, Briggs was still keen to praise Riise, admitting that the 31 year-old was his superior in terms of team selection.

"I knew John was close to fitness for Saturday's game against West Ham but I just trained as I normally do and made sure I was ready for the game," Briggs explained.

"He then trained on the Thursday and Friday without any complications so I kind of knew he'd be back in the starting eleven.

"John is such a professional. He's always one of the first to arrive for training in the morning and one of the last to leave. I've learnt a lot from him and he's always telling me things I can do to improve my game."