Fulham’s midfield injury problems have been well documented this season. The start of the campaign saw Chris Coleman start with a full compliment of midfielders at his disposal. Yet as the weeks went by and the injuries accumulated, the midfield cupboard went from brimming to bare.
Whilst the return of Claus Jensen somewhat alleviated the player shortage in the middle of the park - with Jimmy Bullard, Papa Bouba Diop, Simon Elliott and Mark Pembridge all on the treatment table, the defensive midfield duties rested squarely on the shoulders of Michael Brown – up until the second half of the recent match against Wigan, that is.
With the scores level at nil-nil and the Latics threatening to take control of the match, Brown, in typically committed fashion, raced out of the box to close down the threat of a long range shot. In successfully doing so, the midfielder’s ankle absorbed the full brunt of a powerful Kevin Kilbane effort. Brown continued gamely for a few minutes but was soon replaced.
Nearly four weeks later Brown was back setting foot on the training pitch, taking part in his first full training session since sustaining the injury. Fulhamfc.com was on hand to speak to the midfielder after training.
Michael, it’s been a long time but you must be pleased to get back out on the pitch?
“It’s been difficult, we originally thought I would be out for only be a week or two but it’s actually taken over three weeks. The injury was a bit more complicated than I first thought. In the end I had to have an injection to get rid of some fluid.
“But I’m nearly there and it was just one of those things. I came out and blocked a shot but in the process I badly jarred my ankle. It was just a freak injury; there was no one near me.
“I've been training with the boys and hopefully I’ll be available for the weekend.”
In your absence Moritz Volz and Carlos Bocanegra have stepped in to midfield, how do you think they have fared?
“They’ve done really well. They’re not midfielders but Boca and Volzy have both been excellent lately and we were looking quite solid up until last Saturday. They helped the team out massively and it just goes to show that if anyone is asked to play anywhere in this team, the lads will be straight up and put in a shift.”
"I was in the dressing room on Saturday and every player knew that we had a bad half and they all wanted to do something about it." Michael Brown
You mentioned last Saturday’s result. Where do you think it went wrong with the first half performance?
“It happens every now and then in football. It just happened to us when we were playing badly and we got punished with three goals - there was no way back from that.
“I was in the dressing room on Saturday and every player knew that we had a bad half and they all wanted to do something about it. We all knew what was required in the second half.
We’re going into games trying to be solid and hard to break down. You don’t go straight out and start leaving big holes at the back. We are solid but also close the opposition down further up the pitch and really get about teams.”
With us looking to get back into the top ten, the Reading game is looking like a ‘mid-table six-pointer’ now…
“I’m not looking at who’s above us and who isn’t. We just need to get a win quickly so we can get back into that top half. We’ve been in the top half of the table for most of the season and regardless of who we’re playing, we need to get the win to put us back up there.”
