The Gaffer confirmed in his press conference that Kalas was back in proper training today and will be assessed before the match. Otherwise, all okay. Anybody who witnessed the 2-2 draw at the Cottage back in October will be well aware of Preston's style. So won't spend much time on them as a team - they are Big .. Strong .. and Ugly !! Suppose a saving grace is that they no longer have Hugill, who was one of the worst offenders at the Cottage, yet wasn't one of the 4 of theirs booked. For us, Kalas will be back if fit. This may be the one to keep Johansen under wraps to make sure he doesn't get that yellow card before the amnesty kicks in. Which only leaves the recurring right hand spot up front - and hopes it's not Ojo. ......................Bettinelli............... ..Fredericks..Kalas..Ream..Targett.. McDonald... ............Cairney......Norwood.... ...Ayite...........Mitrovic.....Sessegnon...
Not a dirty side by a long chalk just get stuck in and now with no big gripper up front rely on speed and guile. Picked up most of our bookings against Wolves difficult playing an entire side suffering from Ménière's disease
Expecting a tough game today, perhaps similar to the Bristol City game. They hassled and hurried us at the Cottage and I expect the same. Mitrovic is ideal for this kind of game and I think key again will be the first goal to get a win. Villa could lose points today and even Birmingham could snatch something after being unlucky in the week.
The man responsible today is Simon Hooper. Remember Kalas being sent off in the 1st minute in the game at the Cottage against Reading at the beginning of the season? Yup, that was "our" Simon. Could probably leave it there but will just mention the last time we saw him - the 4-2 win over Cardiff at theirs on Boxing Day. Despite committing twice as many fouls as we did, he booked 4 of ours and only 1 Cardiff player. Our four were, Ayite Fredericks Odoi and Bettinelli. Safe to say, or not, Wee Cooper of Wiltshire is no friend of Fulham. For the record, in his 33 games so far Hooper has accumulated 107 yellows and 4 reds.
There is a nice matchday thread on the Preston page. Well worth a look and lots of nice things about Fulham.
Trouble is every time Mitro scores another couple of mil is added to his valuation, but at the moment who cares.
We should have got a point from that sadly switched off at the throw in, Mitro four goals in 2 games at Deepdale, think you need a keeper. Best of luck chasing Cardiff down yours truly gutted North West England, match report now on my site.
I'm not sure what his value is likely to be. We paid around £12m for him and I'd say he's worth that sort of figure, maybe a touch more now. To us he's worth almost nothing though, Rafa doesn't rate him (much to the bemusement of fans it needs to be said) so if he isn't playing he should go. He is on good wages though so I can see us accepting £10m to clear off his wages. That said... we were interested in Cairney last year and were rumoured to have been quoted £20m+. If that's true then the spiteful bastards at the top of our club would probably quote something similar to Fulham and then sell him cheaper to someone else just to prove a point. We are not run by nice people!
I should add I love that Mitro is doing well for you guys. He's a really likeable nutjob who deserves to do well in the English game. Fulham are a good club, look after him and get yourselves promoted so you can give us £15-20m for him in the summer. He is bound to score against us next season if that plays out and to be honest I think our fans would cheer him if he did.
I'm having to pinch myself. Extraordinary to think my wonderful club is doing so well. Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
Well, he seems to be enjoying the atmosphere here. Tapping the Club badge has become a bit of a cliche but from this clip he appears genuine -
Geordie fan in peace. Mitro is like marmite at nufc. Some love him some hate him. I love him. He is a player who if you play to his strengths and keep him under control he is a beast. He will run through walls for you. I think if he continues you will get promoted and although I would rather him stay he would be perfect for you in the premiership. He’s a nufc fan and it must be hurting him the situation he is in with Rafa. They have fallen out. But you can see he is a class player. I guess you guys like him. If he continues his scoring form would you like to swap him for Cairney.
No I wouldn't swap him for Cairney even though Cairney has had a mystery injury problem all season. Cairney is a major part of our passing game.
Mitro has given us that ingredient that has been missing from our side first half of the season. Fonte and Kamara have been good but Mitrovic is ruthless in front of goal. We play good football, can pass a team to death but whereas yesterday's game would have resulted in a draw, Mitrovic is the difference in making it a win. Was a really good win yesterday but real shame Villa won yesterday, That was a huge result but still 10 games to go there will be some slip ups. We just need to keep winning.
