Follow every kick as Fulham take on Stoke City in the Premier League
on 05-May-2010, kick off time 20:00
Fulham v Stoke City Live
Fulham have the small matter of an upcoming Europa League Final on their minds as their Premier League season winds down with a penultimate game against Stoke City. But despite Roy Hodgson being likely to rest some key players with half an eye on the game against Atletico Madrid on May 12, there is bound to be a celebratory mood around Craven Cottage in the last home game before the trip to Hamburg. What's more, there's also still a possibility of finishing in the top ten domestically as the Cottagers, in 11th spot currently, are just one point adrift of Blackburn. Sunday's 3-2 victory over West Ham was secured despite the absence of the rested Bobby Zamora, Damien Duff, Brede Hangeland, Aaron Hughes, Zoltan Gera and Danny Murphy, and Hodgson looks set to again go with his fringe players. The likes of Stefano Okaka and Erik Nevland will start, but these second-string players have proved in recent weeks that they are more than capable of performing in the Premier League. Only Andy Johnson (knee) is unavailable to the west London club through injury. The Cottagers have lost just one of their nine games - one in five domestically - and cannot be written off despite their continental distractions. Stoke arrive in the capital with tenth place and the prestige of a top-half finish also still a possibility. Saturday's goalless draw with Everton has left them 12th in the table and victory at Fulham would see them leapfrog both the Cottagers and Blackburn into tenth place. However, it has not been plain sailing in recent weeks for the Potters amid reports of dressing room unrest between manager and players. Amady Faye (groin) and Thomas Sorensen (elbow) are out for the season and will be joined by striker Dave Kitson, who missed the Everton game following an astonishing weekend interview in which he was highly critical of manager Tony Pulis. Pulis has no fresh injury concerns so looks set to stick with the same side that held Everton, but he is still looking for a first win in five games. Stoke were 3-2 winners when these two sides met at the Britannia Stadium in January. They raced into a 3-0 half-time lead thanks to goals by Tuncay, Abdoulaye Faye and Mamady Sidibe. Fulham fought back but a reply from Damien Duff on the hour and a late second from Clint Dempsey was not enough. However, Fulham have had the better of recent match-ups after winning four of the last five and drawing the other, dating back to their time as Division One clubs.
Source: DSG
