Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov to miss Manchester City clash

Dimitar Berbatov has been ruled out of Fulham's Premier League fixture against Manchester City.

The £5m summer signing sustained an injury during training with what was the final shot of practice. The hip/upper thigh problem will keep the Bulgarian striker out of action for the next two weeks.

It is a massive blow for the Cottagers who entertain the champions at Craven Cottage this Saturday. Since joining from Manchester United, Berbatov has been in scintillating form, scoring twice on his home debut and helping Fulham to their first away win of the season over Wigan last weekend.

"I was very pleased [with his impact] because we were worried because we lost our quality in midfield and that was probably our biggest quality," Fulham manager Martin Jol said today, referring to the departures of Clint Dempsey and Mousa Dembele to Tottenham.

"We had one that scored the goals and one that was good on the ball and then he came and he almost filled two positions in one.

"He was a number nine but he played in a number 10 role so for us it was quite good that he was there, but he is injured now and can't play tomorrow so that is a big disappointing thing. He will be out for the next two weeks.

"Berbatov looked good in the training session as usual and then the final shot [of the session] he felt something and he had to go in and stop training.

"It appears he has not got a tear but a problem with his hip, upper thigh so we couldn't take the risk to involve him tomorrow."

Mladen Petric, another of Fulham's summer signing, will likely come in to partner Hugo Rodellega in attack.