Martin Jol is looking forward to welcoming Mousa Dembele back to his matchday squad for Saturday’s trip to Manchester City, although the news was less positive concerning Steve Sidwell [abdominal/abductor discomfort] and Andrew Johnson.
“We have an injury with Steve Sidwell and he will be out for about four to six weeks," Jol explained.
"Andy [Johnson] will not be available [at the weekend] and will be out for the next week, he’s got a groin problem.
"Mousa Dembele is back in the squad so that is good. Of course Pavel (Pogrebnyak) is not available yet; we’re waiting for his work permit so he’s not allowed to come into the country so he’s not even training yet."
Despite clearly frustrated at not picking up maximum points last night, Jol praised his players’ performance, especially those who were forced to fill slightly unfamiliar positions.
“Last night was frustrating but if you take into consideration the problems we had the day before, Dembele and Andy Johnson dropped out [with injuries] and we had to play with Simon Davies for the first time [this year].
"Clint Dempsey played up front for the first time and Bryan Ruiz played in a different role so it was not ideal preparation. And then to score the goal was great; against a team like West Brom you have to patient and get through the screens. But with quality you can do that and that is what we did for the goal; Bryan Ruiz with a killer ball and Clint was on the end of it. But to concede the goal, that is always disappointing.”
A stern taste awaits the Whites with a trip to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, but Fulham have already proven this season that we can go toe-to-toe with Roberto Mancini’s men.
“Away from home they are good but they are even better at home so we have to try to find a solution to give them a few questions,” said Jol. “We did that in the second half when we played them [earlier this season]. In the first half Aguero and Silva were a handful but the manager took them off and we scored the two goals and even could have scored a winner after that. We took the first points off them because they had won all their games before that.
“Of course they’ve had a few disappointing matches like against Everton in their last game but Everton did well and we hope to do the same away from home. We will have a game plan so we’ll have to wait and see.”