Roy Hodgson is crossing his fingers and hoping that he’ll have the services of skipper Danny Murphy and striker Andy Johnson for Fulham’s trip to AS Roma on Thursday.

The Whites can clinch a place in the knockout stages of the Europa League with a win in Rome and, although they more than matched the Italians in the Craven Cottage fixture a couple of weeks ago, Hodgson would love to have two of his key players back. Johnson has been sidelined by a groin injury since just before Fulham’s win over Hull City last week and Murphy was forced off with a knee problem in that 2-0 success.

The Fulham manager hopes to find out on Monday whether he will be able to include the pair in his plans for taking on the Serie A side.

AJ had an intervention on Thursday to freeze a nerve on his groin. If it’s worked we’ll get him back in because he’s as fit as a butcher’s dog. We’ll know about Danny Murphy on Monday as well.