Fulham manager Roy Hodgson insists he is taking the FA Cup seriously after watching a much-changed side battle to a 1-0 victory over Swindon Town in Saturday’s third round tie at Craven Cottage.

Hodgson made a raft of changes to his starting 11 for the visit of the League One side, but denied claims he fielded a weakened team.

Despite missing John Pantsil, Danny Murphy, Damien Duff, Brede Hangeland and Chris Baird, the Cottagers claimed a fourth round away tie at either Accrington Stanley or Gillingham thanks to in-form Bobby Zamora’s 11th goal of the season.

Hodgson admitted his side may now go all out to win the cup, and claimed he will continue to change his starting line-up in the competition as he sees fit.

He said: “Who knows, we might go full tilt now. The next time we play, we will not be coming out of a difficult Christmas programme. We’ve played two tough matches gainst top teams in three days.

“I wouldn’t like to say what will happen in the fourth round. We’ll take what we are given. But we’re pleased to be in the round.

“Next time, we might have a week to prepare, and might decide to do something different in the next round. We’ll keep our options open. I take the FA Cup seriously. I put a team out I thought would be up for the challenge, determined to take the chance they’ve been given to play and win the match. They’ve done that, and I can’t ask for more.

“We look at our squad and try to decide what is going to work best for us.”

Responding to accusations that he fielded a weakened side, Hodgson added: “It could be that four or five players who play on a regular basis didn’t play in the game, and four out of 11 is a large level. I suppose it could be leveled that we weakened our team.

“Me and my colleagues put players in who we believe are good Premier League players. We can’t be accused of fielding weakened teams. We are using our squad to the best of our ability. When a player is called upon, they must be ready, and they can’t do that without playing.

“It was job done against a very difficult team, who were every bit as difficult as we thought they would be. I can’t give enough credit to Swindon. They made it very difficult for us and I’m very happy that we won the game and are in the next round.”

The fourth round match will be played on Saturday, January 23.

Fulham’s next three games: Jan 9 Portsmouth (h), 16 Blackburn Rovers (a), 23 Accrington Stanley or Gillingham.