It seems rather inconvenient that Fulham’s frenzied final week of the transfer window should be interrupted by a football match at Craven Cottage. The Whites, buoyed by that brilliant fightback at Arsenal on Saturday, welcome Tottenham Hotspur in the second round of the League Cup this evening with both managers promising to shuffle their pack and give some minutes to a few fringe players.

Tonight’s fixture will be only the fourth meeting between the two sides in the League Cup. Spurs beat Malcolm McDonald’s side, on their way to clinching promotion from the Third Division, by just a Micky Hazard goal in December 1982 in front of 30,124, which was Fulham’s biggest home game since they were relegated from the top flight in 1968.

Paul Bracewell’s Whites famously knocked George Graham’s Tottenham – then the defending champions – out of the competition on a memorable night in December 1999. A Spurs side, including the likes of Ian Walker, Sol Campbell, Tim Sherwood and David Ginola, were comprehensively outplayed. Boyhood Spurs supporter Barry Hayles opened the scoring before Steffen Iversen equalised. Wayne Collins restored Fulham’s lead within a minute and Geoff Horsfield scored a sensational third with fourteen minutes to go after beating the malfunctioning offside trap with ease.

The highlights are well worth a watch:

Hayles, a regular scorer against Tottenham (including in our wonderful 3-0 at White Hart Lane in 2003), got Fulham’s goal in the 2001 fourth round fixture to cancel out Sergei Rebrov’s opener but Simon Davies scored a superb winner at the Cottage – a glimpse of what was to come in the Welsh winger’s future and ours.

If you are looking for a bit of pre-match reading, you can try:

• Dan’s match day preview – with a very speculative line-up
• Get the lowdown on Timothy Castagne, who has completed his transfer from Leicester City this morning.
• He’ll watch from the stands tonight – just as he did in the Hammersmith End as a teenager
• The latest on how Fulham have re-entered the race for Lucas Ocampos.

If you want something to listen to as we get closer to kick off, press play on our latest episode of The Green Pole with Alan Drewett Junior and his son Freddie on fantastic form.

Don’t forget to give us your score predictions in the comments and join in the conversation too.

COYW!