Martin Jol has conceded his squad needs bolstering if Fulham are to compete across all the competitions this season.
The Cottagers began their competitive campaign with a Europa League tie on June 30 and have an arduous-looking season ahead.
Fulham have so far coped by relying heavily on youth prospects in their ties with Faroese minnows NSI Runavik and Crusaders, who they face again tonight on the back of last week’s 3-1 away victory in the Europa League second qualifying round.
While manager Jol says such matches are more like pre-season friendlies, he admits he will need a larger squad if Fulham are to do themselves justice in both domestic cup competitions and the Premier League. “I am happy with the business we’ve done so far but, as you know, we’ve lost six or seven players,” he said. “We need a couple of players to get a very good young squad.
“Up front, for example, we have Bobby Zamora and Andrew Johnson then the rest is Lauri Dalla Valle, Marcello Trotta – very young players.
“We played them in the friendly matches against Wimbledon and Stevenage and they’re not ready yet to fill in that role as a back-up for Johnson and Zamora.
“They are talented but of course we need players. Clint Dempsey is coming back so that helps, but he plays on the left.
“Moussa Dembele is injured so last week we had a little problem against Crusaders.
“I had to play Kerim Frei on Thursday and Sunday, which is maybe evidence that we need a couple of players.”
Jol has been linked with moves for a host of talent from across Europe this summer and spent most of today’s press conference batting away speculation.
The Dutchman insisted there was no truth linking him with moves for Tottenham striker Robbie Keane, Barcelona’s Jeffren and former Fulham favourite Steed Malbranque, who now plays for Sunderland.
However, Jol did confirm the signing of Czech Republic Under-21 midfielder Marcel Gecov from Slovan Liberec on a two-year deal.
