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Fulham team news: Midfielder remains absent, striker set to return against Cardiff

Fulham will take on fellow Championship promotion hopefuls Cardiff City this evening (July 10) still unable to call on influential midfielder Tom Cairney.

Fulham will take on fellow Championship promotion hopefuls Cardiff City this evening (July 10) still unable to call on influential midfielder Tom Cairney.

The club captain remains unavailable even though his injury is not particularly serious, according to the club’s official website.

Manager Scott Parker confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Cairney, who missed Tuesday night’s 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest after suffering a knock against Birmingham City, would not be playing.

“Tom’s still struggling at the moment, he won’t be available for tomorrow,” he said.

“It’s day to day really with Tom, the problem is that the games are literally only two or three days [apart]. The turnaround is pretty quick.

In normal circumstances, Cairney might only be sidelined for a game or two but the current situation means he stands to miss out on a chunk of fixtures.

“I don’t think it’s a big one, it’s not one which we’re too concerned about, but the dynamics of the division and the games schedule means you’re missing games with just a week’s injury, or a 10 day injury you can be missing three or four games,” Parker explained.

Winning their last three games – all by a one-goal margin – has solidified Fulham’s place in the top six and they retain an outside chance of earning automatic promotion.

They’ve also not lost against Cardiff at home since their 2013 Premier League clash, a run of five games without defeat.

While Cairney’s continued absence is a blow for Fulham, Parker otherwise has no major injury worries and should return Aleksandar Mitrovic to his starting line-up.

The Serbian striker has finished a three-match ban for elbowing Leeds’ Ben White in late June and is now available again.

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