XHAKA BACK, REINIDLO OUT

Regis Le Bris came to the Fulham presser equipped with a mix of good and bad news regarding the latest injury update. Granit Xhaka is available for selection, which will be a massive boost, but Reinildo is set to be sidelined for a number of weeks - setting his sights on a hopefully derby day return. Bertrand Traore won't be available for Sunday but is expected to return to full training next week, whilst RLB explained why Trai Hume has taken over long throw-in duties in recent weeks.

XHAKA BACK IN TRAINING

“Granit has more or less trained fully this week and he is available for selection (vs Fulham. It won’t be the case for Bertrand, but next week he will rejoin the group and might be available soon.”

MIDFIELD DEPTH

“It is better to play with Granit than without. When you have got more options for the starting 11 and the bench then the team is stronger. For Granit, we will have to be progressive and respect the process. It’s good because now we have three or four midfielders available, and now we’ve got another one.”

HEALTHY COMPETITION

“Competition is important in the group and for the team. We can’t play with only 11 players, we always need 12, 13, 14, 15, even 16 depending on the situation and the repetition of the games.”

OTHER INJURIES

“Only Reinildo. Rei won’t be available for at least three or four weeks… so potentially after Brighton, in time for Newcastle. It’s a knee injury. It was during the game at home against Liverpool, he felt something in his knee. The first analysis of this wasn’t positive, and after that we had a second diagnosis which was more positive. He needs a short period of rest to be back. (Alderete) is okay, yeah.”

LONG THROWS

“Nordi has got an issue with his hand. We hope he will be close to his previous ability soon.”

LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY

“It is part of the journey, I think we have to accept that. He played a lot and was really important for us as a player and a leader. It helped the young lads in this squad to grow and become competitive. When you remove a leader the place feels a bit empty at the beginning, but it is an opportunity to grow. I think we have many players with the ability to lead, probably not with the same level of experience as Granit because that’s impossible - you cannot buy experience, you have to go through different events. But the players have this ability."

LEADING BY POSITIONS

"I would say you start locally on the pitch, for example the goalkeeper with his defence, the centre back to the number six, the six has to press and help his forwards with wide triangles and so on. You cannot do it quickly, it’s not automatic, but the lads grew through this experience. Now if we combine both, more leaders with experience plus having Granit back, we might expect a better level.”

LIKE AN ASSISTANT MANAGER

“We have an efficient coaching staff, but Granit is still important. He stays connected with the story of the season and it’s important to keep in contact with problems, solutions, options, sometimes issues in the dressing room which is the normal life of a football team. When he comes back, he is aware of everything. He’s been really good with that.”