Fulham are paired with Wolves for the worst current run of form in the Prem. There's no magic formula to football, you just have to score more than the opposition

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So how likely is that to happen at the Cottage this week? With club form declining month on month supporters are still awaiting signs from the new management team they have a strategy in place to produce winning football. Above we show Bobby after the winner in last year's fixture, a win that took us up to 8th. This year it is Sunderland who are the new Fulham - unbeaten at home and currently riding high, 7th in the table.

With no width to turn defences, no genuine strikers in attack and a slow midfield that now seems incapable of getting up to the edge of the box to provide shots on goal...well, who's your money on? Last week Steve Bruce, accepting he is without half his regular defenders, opted for three strikers and taking the game to the opposition. Welbeck and Richardson pacy on the flanks and with an eye for goal, Darren Bent and Gyan leading the line...the Black Cats showed Chelsea their claws last month just after we'd gone there and performed like frightened kittens.

Fulham team news says Salcido is fit, so with Briggs possibly needing an op to a calf injury - and sensing Hughes has no faith in Pants - expect Baird and the Mexican to be in at full-back.
Elsewhere, I don't think Hughes sees any alternatives to the current midfield set-up, so it will just be a question of who's the lone wolf up front. On the strength of his goal last week I reckon Kamara will start over AJ, in truth I don't think it makes any difference. Dembele remains sidelined, but should be back next week.

When Arsenal had five forwards on the pitch last Saturday and with their centre-back taken off the bizarre decision to send on Eddie Johnson ahead of Damien Duff as we chased the game tells you how alarming Damien's stock has fallen since last year. And for all his industry in the side and time on the ball, when does Simon Davies ever actually influence the outcome of a match?

News from Wearside hints that Gyan and the keeper may not overcome knocks. The Whites need all the help they can get right now. I'll be cheering them on every step of the way, but the realist in me says, as with Brum two weeks ago, a draw may be the limit of our current capabilities. Hamburg and Juventus increasingly seem like a distant dream.

COYW Twitter@fulhamphil