Roy Says Milsom & Brown Can Be Players

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http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23803606-roy-hodgson-hopes-to-spend-big-to-breathe-life-into-fulham.do


Roy Hodgson hopes to spend big to breathe life into Fulham


David Smith


09.02.10



Roy Hodgson believes Fulham's academy has unearthed two more gems with the potential to be just as valuable as Chris Smalling, the England Under-21 defender who is bound for Manchester United for a fee that could reach £12million.

But since Wayne Brown and Robert Milsom have still to mature into regular first-team squad members, Hodgson has revealed he will seek the agreement of chairman Mohamed Fayed to go on a summer spending spree.

Hodgson is desperate to breathe new life into a team so decimated by injuries that he has already conceded last season's club record seventh-place finish in the Premier League is almost certainly beyond reach.

South African midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi, who limped out of Saturday's goalless draw at Bolton, has now joined John Pantsil, Paul Konchesky, Clint Dempsey and Andy Johnson on the long-term injury list.

Bobby Zamora, who missed the game with a virus, and Simon Davies, who was out for much of December, are back for tonight's game at home to a Burnley side boosted by new manager Brian Laws' first win over rival relegation strugglers West Ham at the weekend.

But Hodgson acknowledges he will need to spend in the summer despite 21-year-old Brown earning rave reviews for a loan period with Finnish side TPS Turku and fellow midfielder Milsom, 23, having recovered from a cruciate ligament injury.

Hodgson said: "Brown is now doing well on loan at Bristol Rovers and we like Milsom very much. We think they've got a chance to be players.

"But we are fully aware that if we are to do as well as we have done in the last year and a half then we will need some help in the summer.

"That will probably mean we will be seeking some quality additions as we've run the squad right down. We have between now and the summer to identify targets and persuade the chairman that all the support he has given in the past isn't yet finished and he has to keep going.

"A lot of the money that I have spent in my couple of years here has actually been recouped, in part by the sale of Smalling.

"That hasn't helped the chairman, because all the money he has put in in the past hasn't been.

"However, I'm still asking him to put money onto money."

Hodgson is already poised to turn left-back Nicky Shorey's loan from Aston Villa into a permanent move after the former England international's impressive performances in place of Konchesky.

And a striker will be on the shopping list, even though Hodgson is confident Johnson will return fully fit for the start of next season following knee surgery conducted this week.

Towering Swede David Elm is tonight set to make his second start as Zamora's strike partner.