Match Details
Brentford vs Fulham
Sky Bet Championship
Griffin Park
Kick-off: 3pm
The Season So Far
Fulham Football Club travel a short way up the river to Griffin Park without a win against The Bees in their last three encounters. The reverse fixture in December was a narrow 2-2 draw after Jota’s late header was ruled out for offside.
Last weekend, today’s opposition secured their Championship status with Charlton Athletic, Bolton Wanderers and Milton Keynes Dons now relegated. This despite a 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest, as well as a recent 5-0 thrashing at Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Cottagers went through another squad overhaul in the summer, adding a dozen players and saying goodbye to almost as many heading the other way.
Costa Rican forward Bryan Ruiz [Sporting Lisbon], Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg [Southampton], Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega [Akhisar B], young star Patrick Roberts [Manchester City] and pricey winger Kostas Mitroglou [Benfica] all left the club in July or August.
After goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli was injured, Joe Lewis [Cardiff City] was brought in as cover alongside Andy Lonergan at the start of this campaign. He was joined by Everton’s Luke Garbutt, Bolton’s Tim Ream and Tom Cairney of Blackburn Rovers as new faces in the dressing room.
The January window allowed The Whites to freshen up a squad in danger of slipping into trouble at the bottom of the table. Four new loan deals brought Michael Madl [Sturm Graz], Chris Baird [Derby County], Zakaria Labyad [Sporting Lisbon] and Rohan Ince [Brighton & Hove Albion] to the Club.
The Gaffer
Slaviša Jokanović became Fulham’s seventh manager, including interim bosses, in three seasons when he was appointed in December. The 47-year-old gained managerial experience in Serbia, Thailand, Belgium and Spain before moving to Watford last season. Under his guidance they were promoted to the Premier League, but he left in the summer.
A defensive midfielder in his playing days, he spent the majority of his career in Spain and had two seasons with Chelsea before hanging up his boots. Slav was also capped six times for Yugoslavia before the breakup of the country, leading to 58 more caps for newly formed Serbia and Montenegro.
Match Officials
Referee: Mark Haywood
Assistant Referees: David Rock and Dean Treleaven
Fourth Official: Dean Whitestone
Ticket Information
Tickets for the match are still on sale to previous purchasers. You can hear live match commentary of the entire match on Bees Player from 2.30pm on Saturday, with commentators Mark Burridge and Natalie Sawyer.