IF Gary Bowyer and his players bore smiles at the final whistle as wide as the River Thames on which Fulham’s historic and idyllic ground is banked then who could blame them?

After all, at the end of a typically unforgiving week of Championship action, which was always going to be a test of their resilience, they had achieved what they had set out to do at Craven Cottage.

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That, of course, being take three points and, just as importantly, keep a clean sheet.

Did Rovers make hard work of it? Certainly given the fact that the Cottagers played the whole of the second half with 10 men after Shaun Hutchinson was sent off for a dreadful, bordering on disgraceful, challenge on Lee Williamson that left the recalled midfielder requiring a stretcher.

Rovers, with a numerical advantage, should have gone on to win the game comfortably after Jordan Rhodes scored what proved to be its only goal 13 minutes after the restart.

To the detriment of the heart rates and fingernails of the travelling supporters behind the goal, they were unable to do so, and in the final 20 minutes it was hard to tell which team had a full complement of players on the pitch.

But, despite what the table may indicate, this was never going to be a stroll in the park.

Yes Fulham were and remain winless at the bottom.

But from the moment deeply unpopular boss Felix Magath was sacked on Thursday, they were always going to be a very different animal, and their spirited showing after Hutchinson’s dismissal – and the fact they have players as good as Scott Parker, Ross McCormack and Bryan Ruiz to call on – suggests they will not be rooted to the foot for long.

Under caretaker manager and one-time Rovers scout Kit Symons, they were fired up to say the least.

But their exuberance got the better of Hutchinson and also of Fernando Amorebieta whose early, unpunished tackle eventually led Tom Cairney to becoming the second Rovers midfielder to withdraw injured.

That was the last thing Bowyer, already without Jason Lowe, Ryan Tunnicliffe and David Dunn, needed.

But the Rovers boss could heart from the way that substitutes Craig Conway and Chris Taylor performed, the former not letting his disappointment at being benched affect him and the latter producing an energetic display that will have done his chances of starting a league game for the first time this season a power of good.

They were not alone.

There was a return to form for Alex Baptiste, the centre back essentially playing out position at right back, while Rhodes’ fourth goal of the campaign, and his fourth in his last fifth matches, underlined the belief that the club’s best bit of summer transfer business could well turn out to be seeing off Hull City’s attempts to buy the prolific striker.

But in many ways the day belonged to Jason Steele and centre back Shane Duffy who more than justified Bowyer’s decision to hand the deadline day signings their full debuts.

Steele, apart from one poor clearance that hit Hugo Rodallega and deflected to safety, hardly put a glove wrong and it was his superb save from £11m man McCormack that ultimately earned his team a well overdue first clean sheet of the season.

But the on-loan Middlesbrough goalkeeper’s performance was bettered by that of centre back Duffy, the £250,000 arrival from Everton who was a commanding and composed figure throughout.

That said neither Duffy nor Steele were overly tested in an opening period bereft of clear-cut chances.

Rovers, who cleverly killed any momentum Fulham attempted to muster in the early stages, wasted the best opportunity when Ben Marshall blazed well wide after a storming run from the middle of the field.

The Cottagers went closer when their excellent captain Parker robbed Cairney and played in Rodallega to skim Steele’s left-hand post.

But the contest exploded into life on the stroke of half-time after Hutchinson left his foot in high and late on Williamson.

Rovers set out about making their extra man count and, after Rudy Gestede was denied on the byline by Marcus Bettinelli and Conway blasted over, they did just that in the 58th minute.

Conway collected Marshall’s over-hit centre and sent over a cross of his own that was cleared as far as Corry Evans.

The midfielder’s half-volley was going wide until Dan Burn deflected it into the path of Rhodes who took a touch before brilliantly and instinctively stabbing it beyond former Accrington Stanley loanee Bettinelli.

Rhodes nearly doubled his tally 11 minutes later when he raced on to a raking pass over the top from Duffy and slipped the ball past Bettinelli before seeing his goal-bound shot cleared behind by Burn.

But from then on it was all Fulham and, after Steele prevented McCormack from putting a finishing touch to a rapid breakaway spearheaded by Parker, Hoogland fired inches past the post.

Rovers, however, held on.