Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jol laments Fulham's injuries

FC Twente 1 Fulham 0

Simon Peach
Friday 02 December 2011 01:00 GMT
Comments
Martin Jol said frustration was behind the late red card for Andy Johnson
Martin Jol said frustration was behind the late red card for Andy Johnson (AP)

Martin Jol, the Fulham manager, last night revealed Damien Duff is set to miss Monday night's Premier League game with Liverpool after he limped off during Fulham's Europa League defeat to FC Twente.

Fulham knew three points in the Netherlands would guarantee qualification for the last 32, but left empty-handed after substitute Marc Janko stabbed home from close range late on. Andy Johnson was sent off in stoppage time for a second booking, while injuries to Duff and Mousa Dembélé compounded a bad evening for the west Londoners.

"Duff has [suffered a recurrence] of the old problem with his calf injury that kept him out for two weeks," Jol said. "He came back and had the same problem, but hopefully Dembélé is fine. Damien could be a doubt but I expect Mousa to play and Clint [Dempsey] could return."

On his side's performance against one of his old clubs, Jol added: "It could have been a nice game. They have got a good team and they score goals. Last Sunday was the first time in a while they had not scored a goal [they drew 0-0 with Vitesse Arnhem] so it would have been only the second time in about 42 games they hadn't scored.

"That would have been good, although one point would not have been ideal. We need to win the last game, anyway, but the goal was disappointing."

The defeat, coupled with Wisla Krakow's win at Odense, means Fulham must beat the latter in two weeks to be sure of qualification. Johnson's red card will see him miss that game and Jol admitted the striker's absence is far from ideal.

"It was probably not what you want, a player sent off in the final minutes out of frustration," he said. "It was a second booking, and he knew that he was booked."

FC Twente (4-3-3): Mihailov; Rosales, Wisgerhof, Douglas, Tiendalli; Brama, Fer (John, h-t), Landzaat; Bajrami, De Jong, Chadli (Janko, 79). Substitutes not used Marsman (gk), Cornelisse, Bengtsson, Buysse, Gouriye.

Fulham (4-4-2): Schwarzer; Kelly, Hughes, Hangeland, Riise; Dembélé (Kasami, 83), Murphy, Etuhu, Duff (Frei, 34); Johnson, Zamora (Orlando Sa, 87). Substitutes not used Etheridge (gk), Senderos, Gecov, Briggs.

Referee M Strahonja (Croatia).

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in