Barclays Premier League

Fulham v Burnley

Craven Cottage 09/02/10

Kick-off: 7.45

OVERVIEW

The Clarets head for Craven Cottage buoyed by Saturday's win over West Ham which has breathed new life into their battle for Premier League safety.

A first away win is the next major obstacle to overcome, although even a point would represent progress under Brian Laws.

Fulham have lost just once at Craven Cottage in their last nine games, but this still looks an opportunity for Laws' new-look Burnley line-up to break their away-day duck and climb further away from trouble.

Roy Hodgson has again worked wonder on the banks of the Thames but injuries have taken their toll and the Cottagers are not at the top of their game.

They are tenth in the table and stopped the rot of a recent run of five straight defeats with four points from their last two games.

But they came against Portsmouth and Bolton and with just one goal in five games the evidence suggests they are not firing on all cylinders and have FA Cup and Europa Cup ties to come as their sapping season continues.

Bobby Zamora celebrates his goal at Turf Moor

ONE TO WATCH

Bobby Zamora couldn't buy a goal last season but has hit 11 this term to lead the Cottagers' scoring charts - including one at Turf Moor in December. The former Tottenham and West Ham striker is having to carry much of the goalscoring burden with Clint Dempsey out with a knee injury and Andrew Johnson ruled out for the season.

STAT OF THE DAY

Brian Laws scored his first goal for the Clarets at Fulham in October 19080 - the last time Burnley won at Craven Cottage.

LAST MEETING

12/12/09 Burnley 1 (Elliott 60), Fulham 1 (Zamora 51)

Burnley: Jensen, Mears, Jordan, Carlisle, Caldwell, Alexander, Bikey (McDonald 77), Eagles (Guerrero 86), Fletcher, Blake (Nugent 57), Elliott. Substitutes: Penny, Kalvenes, Gudjonsson, Thompson.

Fulham: Schwarzer, Konchesky, Paintsil, Hangeland, Baird, Nevland (Gera 77), Duff, Hughes, Dempsey, Zamora, Greening. Substitutes: Stockdale, Murphy, Riise, Smalling, Elm, Dikgacoi.

Referee: Mike Jones

Attendance: 18,397

Wade Elliott earned Burnley a point in December

FORM GUIDE (last ten league games)

Burnley: LDDLDLLLLW

Fulham: DWDLLLLLWD

TEAM NEWS

Burnley: Stephen Jordan could return to the Clarets' squad after missing four weeks with a hamstring problem but Chris McCann has not yet fully recovered from his knee problem.

Graham Alexander and Steven Caldwell remain sidelined so Clarke Carlisle will carry on as skipper with boss Brian Laws doubtless considering few changes from last Saturday's winning line-up.

Fulham: Fulham have been hit by major injury problems in recent weeks with the absences of Clint Dempsey and Andrew Johnson potentially the most damaging after Roy Hodgson allowed Diomansy Kamara to join Celtic on transfer deadline day.

The Cottagers are also without midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi and defenders John Pantsil and Paul Konchesky for the visit of the Clarets, while Zoltan Gera is a doubt.

But top scorer Bobby Zamora returns after missing Saturday's goalless draw at Bolton through illness and winger Simon Davies is also set to return.

Referee: Chris Foy

David Nugent helped send Burnley off as winners

LAST TIME OUT

Burnley 2 (Nugent 14, Fox 55), West Ham 1 (Ilan 80)

Burnley: Jensen, Mears, Carlisle, Cort, Fox (Edgar 85), Bikey, Nugent (Thompson 88), McDonald, Elliott, Fletcher, Blake (Paterson 73). Subs: Duff, Eagles, Cork, Weaver.

Bolton 0, Fulham 0

Fulham: Schwarzer, Baird, Hughes, Hangeland, Shorey, Duff, Murphy, Dikgacoi (Etuhu 54), Greening, Elm (Okaka 75), Nevland (Smalling 75). Subs: Kelly, Riise, Stoor, Zuberbuhler.

THEY SAID

Brian Laws: "We've only had one point away and so there's only one way we can go, and that's upwards. After a good win on we are in the mood."

Roy Hodgson: "Personally I don't have the same feeling that I know Burnley as well as I would say know Arsenal or Manchester United if we were playing them come Tuesday."

Premier League fixtures (7.45pm unless stated)

Tonight

Fulham v Burnley (8.00)

Man City v Bolton

Portsmouth v Sunderland

Wigan v Stoke

Tomorrow

Arsenal v Liverpool

Aston Villa v Man Utd

Blackburn v Hull (8.00)

Everton v Chelsea (8.00)

West Ham v Birmingham

Wolves v Tottenham

Barclays Premier League

	p	w	d	l	f	a	gd	pts
Chelsea	25	18	4	3	60	20	40	58
Man Utd	25	18	2	5	61	20	41	56
Arsenal	25	15	4	6	60	30	30	49
Liverpool	25	13	5	7	43	26	17	44
Tottenham	25	12	7	6	45	25	20	43
Man City	23	11	8	4	45	32	13	41
Aston Villa	24	11	8	5	31	18	13	41
Birmingham	24	10	7	7	24	24	0	37
Everton	24	8	8	8	33	35	-2	32
Fulham	25	8	7	10	27	28	-1	31
Stoke City	23	7	8	8	22	26	-4	29
Blackburn	25	7	7	11	25	43	-18	28
Sunderland	24	6	7	11	31	41	-10	25
Hull City	25	5	9	11	25	50	-25	24
Burnley	24	6	5	13	25	47	-22	23
Wigan	23	6	5	12	25	48	-23	23
Bolton	23	5	7	11	29	44	-15	22
West Ham	24	4	9	11	30	40	-10	21
Wolves	24	5	6	13	20	42	-22	21
Portsmouth	24	4	3	17	19	41	-22	15