Fulham boss Roy Hodgson received bad news in duplicate when striker Andrew Johnson and defender John Panstil were both ruled out for the remainder of the 2009/10 season.

 

Johnson has struggled with injury since the start of the season when he dislocated a shoulder. He subsequently picked up a groin problem but following a full 90 minutes against Blackburn, Hodgson was hopeful of having him back in the squad, fully fit. However, Johnson has been forced to undergo knee surgery and will be looking towards pre-season training in the summer at the earliest.

With Zoltan Gera and Clint Dempsey also out injured and Diomansy Kamara having been loaned out to Celtic for the rest of the season, Hodgson is now heavily reliant on Erik Nevland and Bobby Zamora for the remainder of this campaign, plus the now-inspiration-looking loan signing of Roma striker Stefano Okaka who may get more first team action that he anticipated.

against Portsmouth.

Pantsil’s knee injury was sustained at Stamford Bridge in December and he is now expected to be out of action until May. He missed the African Cup of Nations and is taking much longer than originally anticipated to recover but the player himself is confident that he will be fit to represent his country in the World Cup.