There was good news from Fulham’s Training Ground on Friday afternoon when Roy Hodgson revealed that four First Team regulars will be available for Sunday’s clash with Everton at Craven Cottage|.
Captain Danny Murphy and strikers Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora have all recovered from recent knocks in time for Sunday’s match. Simon Davies, who suffered a foot injury towards the end of the 2008/09 season, is also fit and available for selection.
“Luckily both Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora are back which hopefully will help us,” said Hodgson. “We’ve played three league games and Zamora and Johnson have only played one of them, which we won one-nil against Portsmouth.
“It looks like Danny Murphy, who got injured against Chelsea, will be back as well. The competition for places now is going to be quite fierce and I’m expecting us to have a good season.
“Simon Davies is also available for selection on Sunday. We’ve a very strong area now in midfield where I think we’ve got a lot of good players who are all strong and fit and wanting to play. I’ve got to make a decision on which ones play and which ones don’t. It’s great competition.”
Hodgson also revealed that Mark Schwarzer may not be fit for Sunday’s Barclays Premier League fixture after picking up an injury whilst on international duty.
“Mark may not be fit for this weekend unless he recovers from the injury he picked up playing against South Korea.”
Fulham will be looking to get back to winning ways this weekend at the Cottage but one thing is clear, no one is underestimating David Moyes’ side.
“I have the ultimate respect for Everton,” Hodgson explained. “I think they’re a very good team. They’re very well coached and they’re very well organised. They’ll always be competitive and nosing towards the top half of the table because that’s the type of team they are and they have a manager who won’t allow them to rest on their laurels.
"We know we’ve got a tough game ahead. When I look at the fixtures I don’t see anything other than tough games ahead. I just hope the teams that are playing us will look it in the same way and think, 'it’ll be a tough game because we’re playing Fulham'.”
