From the Press Box: Wilson to be assessed ahead of Hammers clash
Jack Kelly provides the news from the camp ahead of Fulham v West Ham.
After Sunday’s win, I walked into Motspur Park with a spring in my step. Fulham’s next task is to face West Ham at Craven Cottage, who are in 18th place in the Premier League. After a late Raul Jimenez header in December, Fulham are now searching to do a third double on the spin, after winning both games against Sunderland and Spurs.
Today’s press conference was one that was highly anticipated by the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) community. They all wanted to know whether Harry Wilson and Joachim Andersen would be involved, with their deadline for submitting their teams being later on this evening.
I was bombarded with tweets and messages asking for specific team news. Will player x start? Will player y be fit? I felt like I had thousands of people’s hopes in the palm of my hands.
Funnily enough, the question on team news didn’t come straight away, so those FPL fanatics had to wait a little longer.
When the million-dollar question was put to Marco Silva, he didn’t give too much away. The question was mainly about Kevin, who had undergone surgery on Monday.
“Yes, everything went well. Difficult to say what is going to be the timescale of the rehabilitation but everything went well and now is the moment for him to start the rehab”, said Silva.
“Let’s hope everything goes in the direction that we expect.”
Well, the FPL community were up in arms! “Not a proper update!”, they bemoaned. They questioned my skills as a journalist.
He was then later asked about team news again, Wilson and Andersen specifically.
“Joachim (Andersen) is 100%. He’s OK. Harry is one of the players that I said we have to keep assessing and see. Tomorrow we are going to take some important decisions related with the game and with the squad list”, said the Fulham boss.
“Joachim was not injured, it was an illness and he’s ready to go again.”
Silva also confirmed that Sasa Lukic is working hard to get back to full fitness, and that he could be in contention, with the Serbian growing in confidence of the training field.
West Ham will provide a tough test for Fulham tomorrow night. A side who seem to be showing more fight and desire than Sunday’s opponents.
If Fulham can make it three wins in a row, they will rise to 43 points. An impressive tally with another 27 to play for. The race for Europe is still well and truly on, with a chance to progress to the last eight in the FA Cup on Sunday too.
As has been reported by a few journalists now, Aston Villa are firmly in the race to land Wilson on a free transfer this summer. Fulham are still doing all they can to keep the Welshman, and qualification into Europe may boost the Whites’ chances of retaining him.
Tomorrow is another London derby. I’m looking forward seeing players like Oscar Bobb and Samuel Chukwueze if they’re involved. Bobb was very impressive in his first Fulham start; another top signing. We play our second of three home matches this week, looking to secure maximum points again at the Cottage.
Enjoy the game!
COYW!