Fulham defender Tete could be sidelined until April

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Fulham right-back Kenny Tete could be out until April.

The Dutchman, 29, suffered a knee injury during the 2-2 draw at Liverpool on 14 December.

He was expected to be out for at least a month – and boss Marco Silva has revealed that he will be sidelined for significantly longer.

“It’s going to be probably the end of March, beginning of April,” Silva said.

It means Fulham could look to bring in a right-back during this month’s transfer window.

Timothy Castagne has stepped in as an obvious replacement for Tete, but the Whites are short of other options.

Silva explained: “It’s a long, long time without him. Let’s see. We are aware of the situation. We are working on it.

“We have to be calm enough to understand the moment of the season. We are talking about January and, unfortunately for us, Kenny is not in contention for the next two months.

“Let’s see. We have a player that gives us all the confidence, Timothy Castagne, but in the squad we don’t have many players that do it as a back-up.

“That position (right-back) is different. We have some central defenders that can play on the left, like Calvin Bassey or Jorge Cuenca, but the right-hand side is slightly different in terms of solutions.

“We are going to take a decision on that position.”

Meanwhile, Silva has insisted reports that Palmeiras have submitted an improved bid for Fulham midfielder Andreas Pereira are “completely false”.