Zaccheroni only beat Fulham boss Roy Hodgson once during the three spells the 62-year-old spent in Italy and he has told his team they will have to fight hard to beat the Cottagers.

"He is a very honest person. He plays teams in a very structured system, 4-4-2," said Zaccheroni of Hodgson, who managed Inter Milan twice and Udinese in the 1990s.

"His teams are always successful without trying to do too much, they just keep it simple.

"We should never underestimate him and his team. He was worked hard and has fought hard as a manager."

Fulham's 3-2 aggregate victory over Ukrainian side Shakhtar was a sign for Zaccheroni of how far Hodgson has taken the Londoners since he brought them back from the brink of relegation in 2007.

"I watched Fulham when they played Shakhtar and they were very strong on the field," added the former AC Milan boss.

"They were arranged very orderly and have plenty of good players so it will be a tough match on Thursday.

"None of the players play for themselves, they all play for the team and they can defend really well. We all saw that from the match in Donetsk.

"They are a typical English team, very tough and they create a lot and have some excellent players who just want to play for the team."