Zamora Blow Puts Dempsey Back On Centre Stage

Fulham’s trip to the Britannia appears to have proved costly with boss Roy Hodgson facing up to life without both Bobby Zamora and Brede Hangeland for the foreseeable future. Both players were subbed with injuries before the hour mark in last night’s 3-2 defeat, with Zamora suffering what appeared to be a dislocation of either the shoulder or collarbone and Hangeland sustaining a reccurence of his knee injury.

The Zamora setback is of particular significance for fantasy managers. The striker’s form over recent weeks had seem him promoted in our thoughts as a mid-price option. This injury and the expected layoff now takes him out of the equation but increases the potential of midfielder Clint Dempsey.

Ironically Dempsey started last night’s game on the Fulham bench with Hodgson preferring to start Gera and Duff in the wide roles. However, Zamora’s departure saw Dempsey spring from the bench to partner Johnson up front and drag Fulham back into the game with a goal and an assist. Hodgson may well be looking to the transfer window to secure another striking option but for now, Dempsey is set to lead the attack for the coming weeks putting him firmly back on our watchlists…

We yet to get the full prognosis on Zamora but Hodgson certainly seemed downbeat in his post-match analysis and is predicting at least a month on the sidelines for the striker…

“It’s bad and it looks like a dislocation…I don’t know at this point whether it’s his collarbone or shoulder but either way it’s a bad injury. Andy Johnson dislocated his collar bone and he made a swift recovery and was back on the field in three weeks. Having said that, for the injury to heal fully it takes longer because as a forward you’re always being buffeted around and you can’t protect it as well as you would like. It’s certainly not a short-term injury and I can only hope that the prognosis is not too bad.”

Zamora is believed to be undergoing and scan today but now seems likely to miss a run of games that starts with the home banker with lowly Portsmouth this weekend and features a set of fairly kind opponents (POR bla tot AVL bol BUR BIR). Certainly Fulham have four home games in that run of seven matches and with their home form being exceptionally strong, it bodes well for Clint Dempsey should he be able to maintain the central attacking role.

Having notched 6 goals and 3 assists so far this term, Dempsey will now cost you 7.0 in the Fantasy Premier League game, a rise from his original 6.5 price. That still represents good value in the midfield mid-price bracket. His role up front should bring continued returns and given that Murphy missed his last spot-kick against CSKA in the Europa League, Dempsey could even be handed penalty duties once established back in the side.

As for the Hangeland injury, his prognosis is also unclear right now but we can presume that he will sit out the home game with Portsmouth this weekend. That could mean a return for young Mark Smalling alongside Hughes in central defence. We await team news from Hodgson’s camp but at just 4.0 in the Fantasy Premier League game, Smalling looks a good short-term budget option for this gameweek.