Fulham will be without captain Tom Cairney and midfielder Mario Lemina for Saturday night’s SW6 derby against Chelsea.

Scott Parker revealed the pair are definitely out of contention to face Frank Lampard’s side, whilst Aleksandar Mitrovic is likely to have a late fitness test to see if he has recovered sufficiently from the calf strain that he picked up during Saturday’s extra time win at QPR in the FA Cup.

The Fulham boss told his pre-match press conference this afternoon that Cairney ‘has a slight knee issue’ that is being managed by the club’s medical staff. The 29 year-old hasn’t featured since starting the 1-1 draw against Newcastle on December 19th and has a history of troublesome knee injuries.

Lemina, who has made eleven appearances this season and had begun to forge a promising partnership with Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa in central midfield, is still recovering from coronavirus and Saturday night’s fixture will come too soon for him to play any part. Parker said that Fulham will leave a decision on Mitrovic’s fitness until later in the week after he completed some light training at Motspur Park earlier today:

“Mitrovic is possible to be there for the weekend. Trained today lightly, we’ll see how he pulls through tomorrow.”