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TEAM NEWS
Southampton boss Nigel Adkins has virtually a full squad to choose from, with only injured midfielder Jack Cork unavailable for selection.
Centre-back Jos Hooiveld is fully fit again, while Jason Puncheon is also pushing for a recall.
Fulham give Dimitar Berbatov (hip) only a slim chance of playing, while Mladen Petric (calf) is rated doubtful.
Kieran Richardson is fit, while Kerim Frei and Philippe Senderos are close to making their comebacks.
MATCH PREVIEW
Southampton's season has started rather like a very big dipper, unfortunately one with more downs than ups. Conceding goals at the rate of three a game just cannot continue without terrible damage being done to their season, so the first priority must be to toughen up defensively.
Nigel Adkins has some delightful attacking talent at his disposal. I saw a fair bit of Gaston Ramirez playing for Uruguay's Olympic side in the summer and he is real quality. Rickie Lambert has been hugely impressive in keeping up his impressive goal ratio in a higher division, but Saints are going to struggle to win any points to go with the plaudits if they need to score three times to even get a draw.
Adkins will point to their second-half demolition of Aston Villa as evidence that there are plenty of games Southampton can hope to win - and this must be one of them.
Fulham are not quite the terrible travellers of days gone by - they have actually won four of their last 10 on the road - but they are still prone to some really bad away days and Southampton will hope to make this another.
Fulham missed the guile of Dimitar Berbatov against Manchester City last weekend - who wouldn't? Already most of their play goes through the Bulgarian when he is on the pitch. Mladen Petric is a goalscoring replacement, but cannot match the missing creativity. It goes without saying that a speedy return for Berbatov from a thigh injury would be most welcome.
Defensively Fulham are sound. Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer - who turns 40 the day before this game - Brede Hangeland and Aaron Hughes are as reliable as ever. Chris Baird has developed into a useful defensive midfielder whilst Alexander Kacaniklic provides a challenge to full-backs and commentators alike. Throw in Mladen Petric, Hugo Rodallega and Damien Duff and you have some very handy options - it's just that none of them are Berbatov.
Southampton boss Nigel Adkins has virtually a full squad to choose from, with only injured midfielder Jack Cork unavailable for selection.
Centre-back Jos Hooiveld is fully fit again, while Jason Puncheon is also pushing for a recall.
Fulham give Dimitar Berbatov (hip) only a slim chance of playing, while Mladen Petric (calf) is rated doubtful.
Kieran Richardson is fit, while Kerim Frei and Philippe Senderos are close to making their comebacks.
MATCH PREVIEW
Southampton's season has started rather like a very big dipper, unfortunately one with more downs than ups. Conceding goals at the rate of three a game just cannot continue without terrible damage being done to their season, so the first priority must be to toughen up defensively.
Nigel Adkins has some delightful attacking talent at his disposal. I saw a fair bit of Gaston Ramirez playing for Uruguay's Olympic side in the summer and he is real quality. Rickie Lambert has been hugely impressive in keeping up his impressive goal ratio in a higher division, but Saints are going to struggle to win any points to go with the plaudits if they need to score three times to even get a draw.
Adkins will point to their second-half demolition of Aston Villa as evidence that there are plenty of games Southampton can hope to win - and this must be one of them.
Fulham are not quite the terrible travellers of days gone by - they have actually won four of their last 10 on the road - but they are still prone to some really bad away days and Southampton will hope to make this another.
Fulham missed the guile of Dimitar Berbatov against Manchester City last weekend - who wouldn't? Already most of their play goes through the Bulgarian when he is on the pitch. Mladen Petric is a goalscoring replacement, but cannot match the missing creativity. It goes without saying that a speedy return for Berbatov from a thigh injury would be most welcome.
Defensively Fulham are sound. Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer - who turns 40 the day before this game - Brede Hangeland and Aaron Hughes are as reliable as ever. Chris Baird has developed into a useful defensive midfielder whilst Alexander Kacaniklic provides a challenge to full-backs and commentators alike. Throw in Mladen Petric, Hugo Rodallega and Damien Duff and you have some very handy options - it's just that none of them are Berbatov.
