Bobby Zamora and John Pantsil are the latest new faces at Craven Cottage after moving from West Ham for a combined total of £6.3million.

The fee was Fulham's first major outlay this summer with Andranik Teymourian, Zoltan Gera, David Stockdale and Mark Schwarzer arriving as free transfers or for small amounts.

Murphy, whose strike against Portsmouth on the final day of last season kept Fulham in the Barclays Premier League, is encouraged by the steady influx.

"The club is spending money I think to make sure that we are not in the same situation as we were as last season," he said.

"We don't need to be changing things too much because then it disrupts a team but to add a few is good news."

Fulham have been a permanent fixture in the bottom three when predictions for the coming season are made and they are sure to be tipped for relegation once again.

But the calm authority exhibited by manager Roy Hodgson will surely convince some that the Cottagers can target a solid season away from danger.

Former Liverpool midfielder Murphy claims anything else would be wishful thinking.

"Realistically I don't think that you can be too crazy in your ambition so middle table mediocrity would be nice in comparison to last season," he said.

"I think to aim to go from almost being relegated to a European place is bit of a jump. You need to build a solid base.

"We are aware we were in the bottom three because we weren't good enough and we are addressing that by bringing in new players.

"Not looking over your shoulder for the whole of the season would be nice because then you get to enjoy your football a bit more.

"Not thinking all the time if we lose we'll be in the bottom three."

Murphy, who has agreed a new one-year contract, believes Hodgson's appointment has resulted in increased levels of professionalism at Craven Cottage.

"I think now all clubs are run so professionally," said the 31-year-old.

"You've got every type of specialist there and I think that Roy has added some of the things that he learnt from managing abroad.

"The Premier League has caught up now but the foreign leagues were the first to do it all.

"Even if these things only bring you 2% they are worth it because that can mean surviving or not."

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