Martin Jol’s striking options are vastly increased for the visit of Wigan Athletic tomorrow with the timely return from injury of two key forwards.
“Andy Johnson is back after his injury and Pavel [Pogrebnyak] will be back too,” Jol said in his pre-match press conference. “Bryan Ruiz is out of course and that will be at least 10 weeks. Stephen Kelly won’t be involved either after he hurt his wrist but he will be back in training next week.
“Zdenek Grygera has a long-term injury, Steve Sidwell is still out too and Neil Etheridge, with his wrist, is the same.”
Fulham have an excellent record in the Barclays Premier League against Wigan but the Latics have found some excellent form of late, losing only once in seven matches, and our Manager anticipates a tricky contest.
“The last four out of five results will have given them a lot of confidence,” Jol said of Wigan’s recent form. “If you are capable of beating Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool then that will give you confidence.
“I think they are doing well at the right time of the season. I feel that they could get out of trouble now but that they need maybe three or four points so they’re still fighting for their lives.
“For us it is different but Bolton are in the same situation and we did well [at the Reebok Stadium] so hopefully we can keep the initiative without losing the ball because that is what they want so that they can try and hurt us.
“We have to try and be patient because Wigan are doing well defensively. They’re playing compact like they did against Arsenal where there was no space on the flank and there was no space in the middle. They’re a hard team to beat nowadays.”