Whilst results may not be going Fulham’s way at present, the two most recent performances, against Manchester City in the Carling Cup and Arsenal in the Barclays Premier League, have shown plenty of positive signs.
Last weekend Roy Hodgson’s men pushed Arsenal all the way in an entertaining affair at Craven Cottage. The Whites were unfortunate not to collect any points after a Man of the Match display from visiting goalkeeper, Vito Mannone, ensured a narrow victory for Arsene Wenger’s men.
Fulham are next in action on Thursday evening as UEFA Europa League Group E table-toppers FC Basel come to the Cottage (buy tickets online|). Thorsten Fink’s side shocked Roma in the first round of group matches with a two-nil victory over the Italian giants and he will be looking to build on his team’s good start.
Looking ahead to Thursday’s match, Roy Hodgson suggested that his starting eleven will be drawn from the full complement of players available – indicating that the much-changed sides fielded against CSKA Sofia and Manchester City were part of a bigger plan.
“There’s no reason why players can’t play three games a week,” he said. “We were a little bit anxious not to push the players into action before it was necessary. It was also very important for me to have a couple of games at a very high level – Sofia and Manchester City away – to see how good Smalling, Chris Baird, Greening, Riise and others are playing.
“I needed to know because how else would I make a decision to change players without knowing at what level the alternatives are at?
“The CSKA Sofia game came on the back of the international week so players like Hughes, Hangeland and Dempsey, to name a few, had made long journeys and played two games. So it was probably quite sensible not to give them another three-game week.”
Certainly following Saturday’s impressive display, Hodgson will have no shortage of options available to him. A prime example is that of Zoltan Gera who replaced Damien Duff early on. The Hungarian international, fresh from a good performance against Man City, continued in fine fettle.
And Gera is certainly hoping to be on the team sheet come Thursday evening:
“I feel very good at the moment,” he said. “We have good players in the squad and we signed some very good midfielders so the competition is high. I need to play well when I get the chance.
“Basel are a good side with experienced players. We will be looking to win the game and we want to go through from the group stages. But we have lots of good players so we are looking forward to this game.”