Fulham Preview

It will be with a heavy heart that Charlton travel to Craven Cottage tomorrow. Curbishley claimed after the Cup defeat that he was going to repay the faith of the travelling 5,250 by leading the team to as high a Premiership finish as possible. Logical then, that he has set the team a conservative target of 6 points out of our last 5 games.

Whilst Fulham's league position shouldn't inspire much fear, it doesn't really tell the story of their season. They have been superb at home and simply abysmal on the road. Only the top 6 have won more home games than The Cottagers this term and that is reflected by the fact that of the 36 points they have amassed thus far, 32 of them have been from home matches. Couple this with the fact that we haven't won at Craven Cottage for 20 years, and it's enough to make you feel downright miserable about our prospects this weekend.

I named this site Cynic Athletic because when it comes to my team I have always been a pessimist, but in the three months that I have been writing this page I have made a conscious effort to remain upbeat about the club and its prospects. At the moment I'm having a real hard time in doing that. I'm sorry, but the performance up at The Riverside has really got to me (I have now finally braved the re-run), and its shaken my confidence in our ability to win matches right now. If I'm honest, I can see us getting a bit of a hammering tomorrow. Of course, there is always the chance that the players will react positively to the criticism they have received this week, but it's blind faith that is nurturing this hope I'm afraid, not logic.

Although Marcus Bent is available again, I would like to see him start on the bench and the team switch to a 4-5-1 formation. Powell, HH, Perry and Spector if fit, (and only because we have no other option) across the back four, Thomas, Ambrose, Kish, Holland and Hughes in the middle, and Bent up front on his own. There is a growing throng of Addicks asking for the youth players to be involved a little more now that we don't have anything to play for, but other than a cameo role from the bench, I can't see Curbishley drastically changing the side before the end of the season.

From Fulham's point of view, Charlton old boy Claus Jensen is unlikely to be fit, Bocanegra is definitely out, whilst Michael Brown is beginning a three match ban. Their key man is likely to once again be Steed Malbranque, a player whom I have always rated very highly. Most of Fulham's attacking verve and inspiration comes through the Frenchman, so he will need to be well marshalled by whoever starts in the centre of midfield for us.

It's the last London derby of the season for the Addicks, and we come into it with a few bad runs to break. We haven't won in our last 11 away games. We haven't won at Fulham in the top flight since 1950, and we haven't even managed a goal there since we came up to The Premiership.

I can see us breaking one out of the three.

Cynic Athletic's Prediction - 3-1 Defeat (Bent - Malbranque, McBride, Boa Morte)