Fulham fans wait for Uefa verdict on extra final tickets

Hodgson's side take on Atletico on Wednesday (GETTY IMAGES)

UEFA is expected to announce in the next couple of days whether Fulham have been successful in their application for extra tickets for Wednesday's Europa League final against Atletico Madrid in Hamburg.

The club sold out their allocation of 12,650 tickets within hours of them going on sale last Friday morning. Fans have been angered by the decision to allow the club's 10,000 season-ticket holders to buy four tickets each, which has left many other supporters without a chance to go to the game.

"A lot of disgruntled fans have come up to me asking if I have any tickets because they are that desperate to go," said David Lloyd, editor of fanzine There's Only One F in Fulham. "I think that the club's lack of experience has caught them out here. To give season-ticket holders four tickets is a bad decision. It was a knee-jerk reaction. The club put the tickets on sale at 7am in the morning straight after the match.

"They didn't take any steps to talk to the fans and some of those who have followed the club across Europe this season have now been left without. It leaves a bad taste in people's mouths ahead of the biggest game in the club's history."

Fulham's request to bring forward their final league game of the season against Arsenal, to give them extra time to prepare for the final, was turned down by the Premier League yesterday. The Cottagers made a formal request to have their game at the Emirates moved from Sunday to Saturday.

However, the Premier League cited the need for all last-round matches to kick off at the same time as the reason for denying their request.

The club is monitoring the fitness of Damien Duff and Bobby Zamora ahead of the final. Duff will be checked by the club's medical staff after he was forced off at half-time of Wednesday night's defeat to Stoke.

He is likely to miss Sunday's game, while Zamora is struggling to overcome the Achilles injury which has kept him out of Fulham's last two games. "Duff was taken off because he took a kick and we thought one of his muscles was cramping up," said manager Roy Hodgson. "We hope it's not too serious and I hope he'll be fit for the final."