Luke Turner previews tomorrow’s game…
That time has come again, the away day that all Blues fans look forward to- Fulham away!
Blues will yet again be backed by a following of over 3,000 at Craven Cottage as the team look end the unbeaten run of Slavisa Jokanovic`s side.
This is very much a changed Fulham side compared to the one last season which scored 66 goals but also leaked a huge amount (79).
The two players who supplied 36 of those 66 goals were Ross McCormack and Moussa Dembele. Both of those players have moved on now which left a very large void to fill.
However, Jokanovic has addressed that issue by bringing in the likes of Chris Martin, Sone Aluko and Lucas Piazon.
Those players can both create goals as well as score them so Blues must keep a close eye on that trio.
Fulham`s horrendous record of conceding goals last season was something that had to be rectified and the arrivals of David Button, Scott Malone, Tomas Kalas and Michael Madl has done just that.
They look a far better side defensively and will be a lot more tougher to break down than from last season.
I’m expecting Fulham to have plenty of the ball tomorrow with both Tom Cairney and Kevin McDonald dictating the play in the middle of the park.
They will also mix it up by playing long balls up to either Matt Smith or Martin which will have to be dealt with sensibly, without giving away silly free kicks.
Fulham having possession of the ball shouldn’t be too much of a problem for Blues as long as we stay solid and compact. We will then have to make the most of our opportunities going forward and give plenty of the ball to our danger man Che Adams.
He’s likely to be the man to make things tick for us in the final third, providing either a killer pass or clinical finish.
We will have spells where we`re on top, it’s just a case of making that pressure count and not regretting it when or if the chances come and go.
It’ll be interesting to see how we line up tomorrow with both Jacques Maghoma and Clayton Donaldson playing for their national sides over the last week so fitness may be an issue for them two.
But, I do feel like we have options available now with Lukas Jutkiewicz coming into the side as well as Greg Stewart still yet to really have been given a chance to shine.
As any game in the Championship, it should be a competitive and fast paced encounter. It’s important we first nullify the Fulham threats before making sure we make the most of the chances we have.
I can see it being a tight game between the two sides and it really could go either way. A draw wouldn’t be disastrous but, let’s be honest, we all want those three points!