Mitrovic ready to start but Fulham duo ‘need time’ – Silva
Fulham boss Marco Silva says Aleksandar Mitrovic is still not 100% fit but will be ready to start against Southampton.
The striker has been managing a foot injury which he sustained in September while playing for Serbia.
He was forced to miss game time before the break for the World Cup, including the defeats by Manchester United and Manchester City, but played for Serbia during the tournament and scored as Fulham got their Premier League season back under way with a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.
Mitrovic is still not training with the team every day, Silva says, but is getting closer to being able to do so.
“He will be ready to start,” Silva said.
“Last Friday was the first day he trained with the team and of course we had doubts whether he could play or not (against Palace).
“I’m not saying that he’s 100% fit from his foot problem but of course he is getting better with more sessions and the game we played last week, he did fantastic.
“He’s really important for us and it’s a good sign for us that he is working more with the team and is more involved with us now.
“Even if he is not 100%, he will be in a condition to start the game.
“We are not taking a risk. Mitro is saying the same, that he is not fully fit. Of course, when you’re not training every single day, you are not in your best physical condition.
“The situation after the match is that instead of one day, he needs more time to recover from the game. All those situations, we have to manage.
“It’s something where he’s not training properly every single day to be in his best physical condition but I hope in the next few weeks it becomes a bit more normal for him to be every single day with me.”
Manor Solomon and Layvin Kurzawa, however, are not yet ready to return to the side.
Solomon has been out since the opening day of the season after undergoing surgery on his knee and suffered a setback prior to the Premier League season resuming.
Kurzawa has played just once since joining the club in the summer, having suffered a calf injury, and is now rebuilding his fitness following another injury setback.
“Kurzawa trained with the team this week after the Boxing Day match,” Silva said.
“He needs more time and training sessions to be ready but he’s training with the team and Manor is the same.
“It was a small injury, nothing really (serious) after that calf problem he had before the World Cup break. It was a small issue for West Ham, it was a knock, and now it’s to get as match fit as he can and of course with the training sessions he will get there.
“Solomon had the small setback in the West Ham week, the friendly match, after that he started again with the team and he’s working with the team.
“Now it’s a matter of time for him to be more involved and to have more sessions for him to be as best as he can to play.”
