Duff

[Brian McGod]

Apologies if already posted but was there any reason given for Duffer being left out the squad yesterday?

[alexbishop]

Rested

[CurryForMario]

Don't understand the decision to rest him - I'd much rather him play a full 90 against Liverpool who love to get their full back forwards and he'd provide sufficient coverage, and then give Kaca a go against Southampton....not the other way round

[bucksfulham]

Fantasy Football says only 50% chance of playing on Boxing Day..assume he's sick or injured.

[cebu]

As mentioned on a previous thread, Gentleman Jim commented that Duff (and Petric) got injured in training. mr-ska commented that Petric would be available for the Soton fixture - but no news on Duff ... yet. Let's hope for the best!  ROI flag

[JackyFulham90]

Let's hope Duff is fit he is still our best right midfielder

[filham]

Duff is our best miffielder at the moment,consistently good , rarely wastes a ball, so skillful and works hard in defence. He should be automatic choice.if fit. for every game.

[Fernhurst]

And only 3% body fat at 33 years of age... What a pro

[Burt]

According to physioroom.com, Duff is injured with no return date specified.

Others listed:

Etheridge (leg - no return date)
Diarra (knee - no return date)
Ruiz (hamstring, 12 January return)
Daviees (thigh - 2 January return)

[filham]

According to physioroom.com, Duff is injured with no return date specified.

Others listed:

Etheridge (leg - no return date)
Diarra (knee - no return date)
Ruiz (hamstring, 12 January return)
Daviees (thigh - 2 January return)

According to physioroom.com, Duff is injured with no return date specified.

Others listed:

Etheridge (leg - no return date)
Diarra (knee - no return date)
Ruiz (hamstring, 12 January return)
Daviees (thigh - 2 January return)

That is real bad news, our midfield tends to look weaker every match.

[JackyFulham90]

A blow he is missing for Southampton game let's hope he is back for Swansea he is still a key player for us

[cebu]

Jol commented on his pre-match interview that Duff and Petric are both still injured and will not be available for 26.12.

[Berserker]

Oh dear

[Forever Fulham]

Darn it all.  He always shows up and works his socks off.

[JackyFulham90]

Hopefully Jol gives him a deal for next year he still has plenty to offer and is still miles ahead of Kacaniklic , Frei & Dejagah

[A Humble Man]

Martin Jol sprung a pleasant surprise in his pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon when he revealed that Bryan Ruiz is in contention to face Southampton on Boxing Day (3pm).

"The team news is that Bryan Ruiz is joining us on Christmas Day," Jol told the gathered media. "We will make an assessment in the training session and then, hopefully, he could join us for Southampton. If not, he will be available for the next match against Swansea City.

"There's a 50:50 chance that he will be fit for selection on Wednesday. But he was doing a good test on Monday morning with the physios and the Head of Medical and on Tuesday he will join us in a collective session. We will see how much progress he has made and whether or not he can join us.

"Another decision would be whether I start him or if he plays a role in the second half but, first, we have to make the decision on whether he can join us and if he's fit for selection.

"The other news is that Mladen Petrić is out with injury – hopefully he will be fit within a week but, if not, we struggle a bit in the spine [of the Team]. Mahamadou Diarra is an important player too and we will make an assessment on him on Tuesday, but I don't think he will have a chance to be involved [against Southampton]. Hopefully he can be involved against Swansea. Damien Duff is another one who is going to miss out as he's got a calf strain."

The last two Fulham performances have been lacklustre to say the least and Jol admits that a drastic improvement in form is urgently needed.

"We've had one win in the last 10 and that is not good enough," he said. "We have to come up with something and be more organised, play better football and, hopefully, we will get some players back who can do that.

"If every player is on the board then I don't think there is a big problem but we've struggled a bit with injuries in the first half of the season. We would like to have somebody, for example, for Bryan if he is not there. We tried that with [Dimitar] Berbatov and he was good sometimes but sometimes it worked against us because you need Berbatov up front.

"Of course, we are disappointed and the only thing we can do is keep the spirit up, try to be positive and tell the players that they are capable of winning games. We know that other players like Bryan and Diarra are important to us but, even when they are not there, we should pick up results."

He continued: "There are still two games to come [this year] and if we can have a couple of results there we'll probably finish with a decent amount of points and that's half the points we would like to have – that is 50 points.

"But if we do the same as we did over the last six weeks, we won't have our 50 points – that is clear. So, of course, you need your players but we also need our spirit and the players who can make the difference.

"Of course, we wanted to get back on track against Queens Park Rangers but I don't think we were good enough and against Liverpool we didn't show our strengths but, hopefully, we can pick up the points against Southampton because it's a vital game for us and a vital game for them as well.

"We are in a good position and we've got a good cushion but if you don't pick up the points in the next week or so then we are really in a relegation battle with other teams."

Wednesday's game at Craven Cottage has become hugely important following our recent run and, while the bookmakers will make the Whites favourites in the festive fixture, Jol cautions that there are no easy matches in this division.

"It's a thin line between winning and losing games, especially in this league," he said. "Sometimes Southampton show that they can have the results and sometimes they show their weaknesses – like we did and like other teams did.

"Take Aston Villa, for example; at the weekend they lost 8-0 and the week before they were beating Liverpool 3-1 away from home. So that is the Barclays Premier League for you. It's an unbelievably strong league and you have to be strong in your organisation and you need your players who can make the difference.

"The difference between us and Southampton was that we had a good start so now we're on 20 points. They struggled for the first part but you saw Norwich City, for example; they picked up big time and they've got enough points now.

"But there are a lot of teams on 23, 25 points so there is not a big difference, but in the Premier League you have to pick up your points at the right moments and if we do that we'll get the points we need to stay in the league.

"That is what we want and that is our first priority – to get points on the board and then there are enough games and enough points to gain to be in a good position."

[CurryForMario]

I like the look of Dejagah - going forward he's great, but defensively he's poor, but I think we should give him time to improve with a run in the team

[Forever Fulham]

I like the look of Dejagah - going forward he's great, but defensively he's poor, but I think we should give him time to improve with a run in the team

I agree.

[IranianCottager]

^ The thing is, I don't think Dejagah really is used to the system in Fulham.
It seems like they usually play 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2, with Dejagah as the RM.
When he plays for Iran, he plays up top on the right in our 4-3-3, meaning much less defensive duties and he really focuses on attacking.

Therefore, I think he still needs time to adjust.

[ash]

^ The thing is, I don't think Dejagah really is used to the system in Fulham.
It seems like they usually play 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2, with Dejagah as the RM.
When he plays for Iran, he plays up top on the right in our 4-3-3, meaning much less defensive duties and he really focuses on attacking.

Therefore, I think he still needs time to adjust.

Another Iranian cottager? I thought I was the only one around haha where are you from mate and do you go to matches often?