MANCHESTER City boss Mark Hughes defended his decision to leave Robinho on the bench after his side slumped to a dismal 3-1 home defeat against Fulham.

Stephen Ireland had given the Blues a half-time advantage but, just as they did in the corresponding fixture 12 months ago, Fulham turned the match on its head.

Clint Dempsey levelled before City old-boy Dickson Etuhu volleyed Roy Hodgson’s side in front.

And even after Robinho’s 63rd-minute introduction, Fulham continued to dominate and it was no surprise when Dempsey wrapped up the win near the end.

The City fans vented their frustration at the final whistle after earlier chanting ‘‘You don’t know what you are doing’’ at Hughes when he introduced Ched Evans for Valeri Bojinov, while Robinho remained on the bench.

But the Blues boss felt he had no other option given Robinho has been involved almost constantly since his £32.5m arrival from Real Madrid on transfer deadline day last summer.

‘‘People make comments but I am trying to protect the players,’’ said Hughes.

‘‘I know the fitness levels of each one. So when people make comments maybe they are being a bit too simplistic.

‘‘Robinho has had a great first season but he has been among those responsible for carrying the vast majority of the workload, and it was my first opportunity to give him a break.’’ Robinho will return for Thursday’s UEFA Cup quarter- final with Hamburg, when City will be trying to overturn a 3-1 first-leg deficit.

Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge and Vincent Kompany, who all missed out this afternoon, should be involved as well, although not Craig Bellamy, who will have a scan on the knee injury he suffered in Germany after the Easter weekend.

Hughes knows his side face a tough task trying to rescue the situation against Martin Jol’s men.

‘‘We have been fighting on two fronts, in the Premier League and in Europe. Maybe today is when it caught up with us,’’ reflected Hughes.

‘‘I needed to get some energy into the side and hopefully we will be in better shape for Thursday, which is a key game for us. We are looking to finish the season strongly and now we are looking to peg back a two-goal deficit against what I consider to be the best side in Germany.

‘‘It is a tall ask but we will give it our best shot.’’ City now find themselves at the back of the pack chasing the final English berth in the re-named Europa League next term. In contrast, Fulham are only a point adrift of London rivals West Ham, who are currently in that crucial seventh spot, having made huge progress since their last visit to Eastlands, when Hodgson virtually gave up on survival when his team found themselves two goals adrift with 20 minutes to go.

‘‘It is not easy to play in Europe at a high level and then do it again on Sunday as Manchester City were trying to do, so, of course, that was in our favour,’’ he said. ‘‘But I don’t want that to take anything away from our team performance because I thought we were very good.’’ ■ Interim coach Guus Hiddink insists Chelsea’s ‘‘fantastic spirit’’ will enable them to finish off Liverpool’s interest in the Champions League tomorrow night.

Chelsea kept their outside chances of winning the Premier League title alive with a 4-3 win over Bolton – a victory that served as a timely wakeup call for Hiddink’s side.

Liverpool, 3-1 down from the first leg, require at least three goals to turn the quarter- final tie around in their favour and Bolton’s amazing treble in nine minutes will have given Reds manager Rafael Benitez much encouragement.

Chelsea were cruising to victory with 20 minutes remaining at Stamford Bridge thanks to a brace from Didier Drogba, a penalty from Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack’s first league goal of the season.

But Bolton’s quick-fire response demonstrated Chelsea must be on top of their game against the Reds to ensure they reach the semi-finals of the competition.

‘‘There is a fantastic spirit around this club at the moment – everyone believes in what we can achieve this season and it is exciting to be a part of that,’’ declared Hiddink.

‘‘But we must not lose our focus for one game or one minute and that means each game is as important as the next one. We have the same aim, which is to try and win all of them.

‘‘It is important that we take the momentum gained from winning at Anfield into this game and keep our level of performance up.’’