Kongolo Out For The Season

Scott Parker delivered some disappointing injury news in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.

One positive from the defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers was Terence Kongolo’s performance at the back, but unfortunately that will be the last we see of the Dutchman in 2020/21.

“Terence Kongolo is going to be out for the season,” Parker revealed. “He picked up an injury last game.

“It’s devastating for Terence really because he’d been out for some time, and I thought he was fantastic last game, I thought he was every bit of the player that we signed.

“I’m gutted for Terence, his season’s done.

“It might impact his pre-season a little bit. He’s having surgery tomorrow.

“Three months [out], maybe. We’ll see where he is in the summer, hopefully he’ll get back for part of pre-season.

“He’s in good spirits, but there’s no denying the boy’s had it tough. He’s had it tough from being out for a year with his foot, it was stop-start getting back to fitness, that’s what happens when you’ve been out for so long.

“He worked very, very hard to put himself in a position to give the performance you’ve seen on Friday night.

“You don’t perform like that if the work hasn’t gone into him, and he’s put in some very good work, some hard, long days on his own getting fit.

“And then obviously this has been a hammer blow for him. But, as disappointed as he is, there’s only one way now and he needs to look forward; surgery, rehab, rest up, and then hopefully get back and be stronger and better for it.”

Kongolo has had zero luck in his time with Fulham, but Parker knows how good a defender he is, and is pleased the Club were able to bring him in last year.

“When the money is tight, you’re looking for good deals, and quality as well, and Terence has that in abundance,” Parker said. “He’s got pedigree, good quality, financially it was a very good deal for us.

“He’s been in the building [on loan previously] so in terms of that we knew what he was about, character-wise, and we knew what he was about as a player, so there were a lot of boxes that got ticked.

“This is sport, this is what can happen. What happened on Friday night is a force injury.

“Someone’s landed on his knee, and it’s the strongest, biggest player on their team who’s landed on his knee. Science tells you that something normally goes snap, and that’s what’s happened.

“Terence will be a very good signing for this football club, he’s got an abundance of quality, he just needs to come out of this cycle at this moment in time, and I’m sure he will.

“He’ll work tirelessly to get there, and when he does you’ll see the player that he is.”

More positive news is that Tom Cairney is back training, though Parker is still not able to put a timeframe on a return to action for our Club Captain.

“Tom Cairney is out on the grass, so there’s improvement there, but the injury Tom has, you just don’t know, you can’t put your finger on it,” he explained. “At the moment it’s looking good, but we’ll probably have a clearer idea in a week’s time.”