Match Preview: Hull V Fulham At Craven Cottage
Folan scores winner at KC
By Eye Of The Tiger
March 4 2009
Hull travel to the capital again tonight to take on Fulham at Craven Cottage. Hull have a decent record away in London this season Beating Arsenal and Tottenham as well as drawing with Chelsea. However The Tigers have not won in 11 in the league. Fulham's home record is impressive though and the London club have only lost once at home all season.
Team News
Hull could be without 7 key players. Dean Marney and Andy Dawson are definitely both out suspended , Jimmy Bullard is out for the season so no trip to his former club , George Boateng is also a long term injury absentee. Ian Ashbee, Craig Fagan and Michael Turner are all doubtful.
Fulham will be without defender Chris Baird who is injured however John Pantsil is back from suspension to fill the gap. Other the the missing Baird Fulham have a fully fit squad.
Manager views
Hull manager Phil Brown:
"I'm looking for players who go across the white line and compose themselves, and can respect the decision (to substitute Geovanni) for the reasons it was taken.
"He was very apologetic for his actions but as far as I was concerned his actions were those of an angry man, as opposed to a composed man, and that's what I'm looking for.
"But it's between me and Geo, it's in-house, it will remain in-house, and he's got an opportunity on Wednesday to do something about it."
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson:
"I must say that a Uefa place has never been mentioned during the time that I have been at the club.
"What we want is a finish that is as high as possible and most importantly away from the relegation zone.
"But you don't want to crush hopes, expectations and dreams, although at the same time you can't encourage people to start believing there are no problems and everything will be hunky-dory from now on.
"The Uefa competitions are something that mean a lot to me personally so it would be very nice if I could take part again with Fulham."
HEAD TO HEAD
Caleb Folan came off the bench to fire Hull to victory in the reverse fixture, a 2-1 win.
Hull won their first ever visit to Fulham 0-1 on 3 September 1907 at second league level.
Home and away
League (inc PL): Fulham 25 wins, Hull 28, Draws 24
Prem: Fulham 0 wins, Hull 1, Draws 0
at Fulham only
League (inc PL): Fulham 17 wins, Hull 8, Draws 13
Prem: Fulham 0 wins, Hull 0, Draws 0
Possible Line-Ups
Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Davies, Murphy, Etuhu, Dempsey, Johnson, Zamora.
Hull City: Duke, Doyle, Gardner, Turner, Zayatte, Mendy, Ashbee, Kilbane, Garcia, Cousin, Barmby.
Referee
Mike Jones (Cheshire)
| Matches | Red | Yellow | Average |
| 7 | 2 | 24 | 3.71 |
PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: Craven Cottage Date: Wednesday, 4 March Kick-off: 2000 GMT
Coverage: Score updates on Score, BBC Sport website and BBC Radio 5 Live; live text commentary on BBC Sport website; Highlights on Match of the Day. Updates also on skysports.com and soccer special.