Fulham will be without a host of key players for what manager Martin Jol believes could be a season-changing trip to Norwich on New Year's Eve. The Cottagers head to Carrow Road buoyed by their impressive 1-1 draw at west London rivals Chelsea on Boxing Day.
Andy Johnson, Bobby Zamora and Damien Duff all missed the Stamford Bridge encounter and look set to miss out again against the Canaries. Jol does not believe strikers Zamora (Achilles) and Johnson (groin) will be fit to return, while Duff is also set to miss out through injury.
"Of course the only thing you can say is hopefully they will be back, but I don't think there is a big chance," manager Jol told Fulham TV.
"They were still out on Thursday and Simon Davies is of course out as well. Then we have the long-term injuries to [Zdenek] Grygera and Mark Schwarzer.
"We have got a few worries but we have got attacking options available. I think (Orlando) Sa needs a bit of confidence and then he will start scoring goals.
"It is only a matter of success and then he will thrive on that and do better and better. I thought he held up the ball well at Chelsea. He worked hard and now he has to score goals."
Many had tipped Fulham to be on the wrong end of another heavy defeat on Boxing Day having been thrashed 5-0 days earlier by Manchester United at Craven Cottage. However, the Whites went with a surprisingly attack-minded philosophy and secured a confidence-boosting point.
"You can always defend and we did that well against Chelsea," Jol said.
"But you have to play your own football as well and we should have done that more in the second half. Hopefully we can do that over 90 minutes against Norwich.
"I think it is a very important game to us. One that could change the season.
"But that is for them as well. They know it is an important game as well."
Jol concedes he will have to alter his tactics in a bid to thwart Paul Lambert's side, but expects to run with a similar line-up at Carrow Road. "I don't think we will see many changes," the Dutchman said. "If you see them play, they play in quite an extraordinary style for England. They play 4-4-2 in the diamond. They started off well against Spurs (before losing 2-0).
"Spurs have a very good team and they controlled them, but you can see their strength.
"They have two big players up front in (Steve) Morison and (Grant) Holt, with (Wes) Hoolahan in the hole.
"It is a different style but hopefully we can do the same (as we did against Chelsea) and take the game to them, take the initiative and take control."
Norwich left-back Marc Tierney (groin) is 50-50 for the clash. Fellow defender Kyle Naughton is available again having missed the defeat to parent club Tottenham through suspension, but Ritchie de Laet (back) remains doubtful after coming off against Spurs. Former Everton striker James Vaughan is on course for a return in the new year from his knee problem, along with centre-back Elliott Ward (knee).
Norwich manager Lambert feels keeping expectations in check will be his biggest challenge of 2012. The Canaries were outclassed by high-flying Tottenham at Carrow Road on Tuesday but remain in mid-table with a healthy seven-point cushion over the bottom three.
Fulham's poor away form will give Norwich hope of picking up three more points, but Lambert is taking nothing for granted.
"We have done really fine to be where we are and are playing well enough to win games, but we have to curtail the expectancy level a bit, because it is severe here," the former Celtic midfielder said.
"What the lads have done has been incredible; everybody predicted us to be in the bottom three at this time. "But when you surpass people's expectation levels, they think you are just going to turn up and win. It never works that way. "We are playing catch up with nearly every team in the league because we are new to it. We are the underdog to play every team we come up against, but we are making a fist of it. "Fulham have got terrific players and have been an established Premier League side for a number of years now.
"They got a great result at Chelsea (a 1-1 draw) which shows what a good side they are, so it is going to be a really tough game for us."
Norwich V Fulham - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game live.
Source: PA
