Fulham V Wigan at Craven Cottage : Match Preview

Fulham V Wigan at Craven Cottage : Match Preview

Fulham V Wigan at Craven Cottage : Match Preview

Fulham V Wigan - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.


Fulham without Diarra and Frei

Mahamadou Diarra and Kerim Frei are both unavailable for Fulham's match against Wigan, although manager Martin Jol can welcome back a number of players.

Mladen Petric, Damien Duff, Mark Schwarzer and John Arne Riise all return after missing last weekend's 1-1 FA Cup third round draw with Blackpool.

Diarra (knee) and Frei (pelvis) are out, though, while right-back Stephen Kelly is set to join Reading.

"I feel that we should have done a lot better in our home games with our home record over the past years," boss Martin Jol said, having won just four of 10 league games at Craven Cottage this season.

"That is why we need wins. We started at West Brom to repair some damage with three points away from home.

"Hopefully we can do the same against Wigan because they are one of the bottom clubs at the moment."

Roberto Martinez is hoping a change of fortune will help Wigan end their dreadful run against Fulham - but has told his team they will need to earn it.

The Latics' last win over the Cottagers came at Craven Cottage in 2006, since when they have met 12 times, with Wigan picking up only six points.

They have lost their last three games against Martin Jol's side, most recently a 2-1 home defeat in September.

Wigan go into the match in the relegation zone and, asked if it is a must-win game, boss Martinez said with a smile: "It you look at our previous record at Craven Cottage, I think it will be very difficult to see how.

"But I do feel the last three games we've played against Fulham we've been very unfortunate. It's hard to explain how we lost the previous two games at the DW Stadium.

"The last game we had at Craven Cottage it was a very late deadball situation, and after getting ourselves in front we couldn't get a positive result.

"The approach is very clear. We need to be playing well enough and work hard enough to make sure we become a lucky team on Saturday."

The good news for Martinez is the injury situation is easing all the time, and his squad has been bolstered by the January additions of Roger Espinoza and Angelo Henriquez.

Defender Adrian Lopez (hamstring) and midfielders Ben Watson (broken leg), Albert Crusat (knee) and Ryo Miyaichi (ankle) are all some way away but centre-back Antolin Alcaraz is back to full fitness after a long-term groin injury and close to a comeback.




Source : http://www.football.co.uk/fulham/fulham_v_wigan_at_craven_cottage___match_preview_rss3661321.shtml