Fulham are anxiously waiting on scan results as they prepare to face up to life without striker Moussa Dembele following the injury sustained in last night’s Carling Cup tie with Stoke City.
The Belgian striker was the victim of a late agricultural challenge from Stoke’s Andy Wilkinson that saw him stretchered from the field in the Carling Cup defeat. The tackle enraged a concerned Mark Hughes who appears to fear the worst for his striker…
“The tackle which took him out from my point of view was a ridiculous challenge at that point of the game. When you’re at that stage of the game and leading 2-0, there’s a certain code – you look after your fellow professional.The lad has ignored that and he’s put a fellow professional’s career at risk by the nature of the challenge. I don’t know what the hell he was thinking about…We will know in the next 24 hours how bad the injury is, but if he has avoided serious injury to his left leg, he’s a lucky boy.”
The loss of Dembele would come as a huge blow to Fulham who are already without key striker Bobby Zamora for around five months following his broken leg and ankle ligament damage suffered earlier this month.
Dembele had already established himself as a key player in Mark Hughes’ side and his 2 goals, 2 assists and 7 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Bonus Point haul had seen him attract plenty of investment in recent weeks. Currently owned by 4% of FPL managers, they will now be waiting, along with Hughes for news on this setback.
In Fantasy terms his absence would only increase the chances that Clint Dempsey will become the focus of the Fulham attack for the foreseeable future. Dempsey is classed as a midfielder across the Fantasy games and is available at 6.7 in the FPL right now. Currently Dempsey is ranked third in a Watchlist rankings; Dembele has been removed from the Forward rankings while we await news on the injury.
*Update* Reports are suggesting that Moussa Dembele has escaped serious injury as a result of Andy Wilkinson’s “horror tackle” in last night’s Carling Cup tie, with a two-week absence on the cards.
The Daily Mail report suggest that this is the case although there has yet to be an official word from Fulham following the scans that were due to take place today.
Keep an eye on the tweets for the very latest.