Tony Gale has claimed it is the ideal time for Fulham to face Tottenham Hotspur, but admits Spurs still have enough quality within their ranks to make up for the absence of certain key players.
The Cottagers return to action in the Premier League when they host city rivals Tottenham in Sunday’s tea-time kick-off in west London.
Claudio Ranieri’s men suffered a 2-1 defeat in a significant relegation six-pointer clash against Burnley at Turf Moor during their last outing and are in desperate need of results at the moment.
And Fulham will face yet another stern challenge in the form of Spurs, who are next in line to visit Craven Cottage as they aim to shake off the disappointment of the defeat to Manchester United.
Despite suffering three straight defeats across all competitions, Gale feels that Sunday is the ideal time to face Tottenham, especially considering both Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane are unavailable for selection.
“We’ve got Tottenham this weekend at the Cottage, and I think it’s a great time to play them”, Gale wrote in his column for the club’s official website.
“We haven’t had much luck this season but this is something that’s gone in our favour.
“Obviously they’ve still got a lot of firepower, but with Heung-Min Son off on international duty and Harry Kane injured, that’s a big percentage of their goal threat gone.
“Kane not playing is massive.
"It’s not just his goals, it’s what he does in his linkup play as well.
"Harry tends to drop deep a lot of the time, and then the other wider players get in advanced of him.”
However, the Fulham legend also admitted Spurs have enough quality within their ranks to fill the void left due to the absence of their two talismanic attackers in Son and Kane.
“Let’s not get carried away, though. It’s not like Spurs don’t have top class players to fill those gaps”, he continued.
“People tend to forget they’ve still got Fernando Llorente there who’s a player I rate very highly.
“Plus they’ve still got Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela, so it’s not like they’re completely without attacking options.
“They’ve still got real quality, but missing their two top scorers will put a few doubts in their mind and therefore it is a good time to play them.”
Kane is expected to be ruled out for at least a month due to his ankle injury, whereas Son is in the United Arab Emirates to represent South Korea during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
