Town host Fulham at Portman Road looking to put their first Premier League points on the board following tough opening fixtures against Liverpool and champions Manchester City, but manager Kieran McKenna has dismissed suggestions that the Blues season starts now.

The Blues went toe-to-toe with the Reds, third in the top flight last season, in the first half of the first game at Portman Road before eventually succumbing 2-0, while last week’s first ever visit to the Etihad ended in a 4-1 defeat, albeit after Town had taken a seventh-minute lead via Sammie Szmodics.

It was always going to be difficult for Town to take anything from those matches, but McKenna doesn’t agree with the view that the Blues’ season proper starts this weekend against the Cottagers.

“I understand the thought process, but I don’t like the phrase ‘the season starts tomorrow’,” he said at his pre-match press conference.

“Do we discount the Liverpool game, the first Premier League game for 22 years at Portman Road with an incredible atmosphere and a fantastic performance for 60 minutes?

“It was the best atmosphere probably in this stadium for decades, 11 players making their Premier League debuts, so many things to be proud of.

“Do we discount that game because we didn’t win it? Do we discount going to Man City away for the first time in how many years against the best team probably in world club football, scoring a really good goal, showing resilience, learning so much?

“We can’t discount the experiences. If externally, people want to say that staying up is our goal, finishing 17th you win maybe nine or 10 games. Are we going to discount the 28 games that we don’t win as they are not part of the season?

“It’s all part of the same journey and I really want the group and the players, staff and supporters to enjoy every game.

“Now, of course, getting points is really important and there are some games that are harder to get points in than others, Man City away being one of the games that is very unlikely that you are going to get points.

“We feel all of our home games will give us better opportunities to get points with the home record we have, the atmosphere we create and the football we know we can play. We feel those games are going to be our best opportunities to collect points.

“But you have to respect every opponent. Fulham have spent, how many years in the Premier League out of the last 10 or 20 years? They dropped to the Championship very briefly and came back up and then invested massively when they came back up.

“They have strengthened every season and strengthened again this season. They have had a number of seasons working with the same excellent manager and a fantastic group of players, so we are not going to look at this game as being any easier than any other game.

“They are a super side and it is going to be a big stretch for us. But every home game we play in especially, we are going in with full belief that we can take points and impose ourselves on the opposition to give ourselves the best chance of putting in a good performance. And a good performance over a course of time gives you the best chance of getting points.
 
“Training has been good. Of course, we have had a busy week with the cup game, so we haven’t had as much time on the grass with the whole squad. But everyone is looking forward to the next game.

“We have 19 home games in the Premier League this season and every one is one to cherish and embrace and to go and attack. We have prepared well over the last couple of days.

“From the Man City game, there are lots of things to take from it and in other ways, it is a pretty unique game. In terms of the mistakes we made in the game, we know that they were all within a four-minute spell where we conceded three goals.

“Of course, when that happens, it’s usually more of a game management issue than an organisational or tactical issue. That was the case, understanding the level and the environment.

“So we will learn from that and hopefully be better in those situations again. After that spell we went through at Man City, the players regrouped and organised themselves well and did show resilience, which was a big positive.

“We went maybe 70 minutes away to City without conceding and without giving away too many clear-cut opportunities. So that was a positive.

“In other ways, you know it’s a unique game. You don’t want or expect every game to be pinned back, as we were against Man City. They will do that to better teams than us.

“So we take that but expect a different atmosphere, intensity and feel to the game tomorrow. That’s what we have been working towards.”

While some might see the Cottagers as considerably lesser opposition than the teams Town have faced in the Premier League up to now, McKenna by no means underestimates them and believes fans will take a similar view.

“I think most supporters are realistic,” he said. “I understand that sentiment as you have two of the best teams in the league. But I think most fans understand the years Fulham have had in the Premier League and the investment that brings over a long period of time.

“The stability of the group they have, they’ve been working together now at that level, with the same manager, for a good number of years. When you are in that position, you can add a top layer of talent to the group that you already have, which I guess they have done with [Emile] Smith Rowe.

“They are a really well-established Premier League team, whereas we are coming from a different position. We know the journey we have been on and we also know we are coming from a summer where we knew it was absolutely essential to make big developments to the squad.

“We are going to be in the process of improvement and that’s hopefully going to show some good signs tomorrow. But it is also going to be over the next weeks and months, but we feel that gives us the best chance to be successful over the season.

“I know the fans will be with us. Of course, you want to get points on the board as quickly as possible. Some people will say that this is our best possible opportunity to do so out of the first three games.

“But we are not looking at it like that. We are looking at each game as a challenge, each game as an experience, each home game even more so an opportunity to go and attack the game. This one will be no different and we are really looking forward to it.

“They are a really well organised side - they are a team I admire in that way. I would say they are good on all phases, they can build with the ball but also go a little more direct.

“They have good structure in and out of possession, they are good on transitions and set plays. You can tell they are well coached.

“Of course, we have looked at different ways we can hurt them. And of course, playing with good width is an important part of our game anyway and something we look to do against every opponent.

“We have identified the errors where we think we can exploit and we know the areas that they are dangerous. We will try and deliver a good performance and see where it takes us.”

Does he feel his side is settled into a Premier League rhythm? “Probably not yet. We are probably still adjusting. You have your first two games, then you have a cup game midweek, then we play tomorrow and then it’s international break and you lose over half the squad.

“They are new things for us as a club and a group to lose that many players. I don’t think any team is in the rhythm yet, it is probably too early in the season.

“The first international break comes so quickly, I wouldn’t say that any manager or group of players feel that they are in full rhythm or at their best. That’s probably amplified a little more for us with the additions that we have made – and with quite a few of those additions being in the last week or two.

“So I don’t think we are in our flow yet. We are going to attack the game as best we can. The players are super-motivated, the spirit in the camp is very good, they are really looking forward to the game and we are going to try and attack it and put in a performance.

“But, as I say, we want to play as well as we can now and pick up as many points as we can now. But I am confident that if we stick on the right path then we are going to improve over the next weeks and months and it is a very long season.”

McKenna says the Town crowd, at its loudest against Liverpool, can play its part against Fulham.

“They can make the difference,” he said. “It’s twofold really as they can create the atmosphere and the intensity that make it difficult for the opposition and give our players a boost. We have done that so well over the last couple of seasons. It’s been a big part of the home record.

“But it is also about sticking with the group and the team whenever things go against us. I think over the two and a half years I have been here that we have built that. It wasn’t there as much at the start, but the way the group have performed and dealt with adversity, they have given the crowd belief and the crowd also give the players belief as they stick together. That’s going to be massive as well.

“I think there will be a fantastic atmosphere tomorrow from the start of the game. The level of the opponent and the nature of football, there will be things go against us in the game.

“We are two games into the season, we have 18 home games including tomorrow. I think if we are all there at full throttle for every one of those games, the crowd and players together, irrespective of the score, the timing of the season, the position in the league, then I really trust over the course of the season that will give us a great help in picking up points.”

The teams met in the Carabao Cup just under 11 months ago when the West Londoners were very much the better side, winning 3-1.

Asked whether tomorrow’s match us a test of how far Town have come since then, McKenna considered: “To certain extent. I think our team that night was 11 changes and a lot of players who hadn’t played in a long time and things like that.

“I don’t think it was really a marker of where we were at that time in terms of where we were as a Championship team.

“They had some changes on the night as well, although their team was probably a little bit closer to their most common league team at the time.

“I don’t think it’s a big marker, it’s just a mark for us again. It’s only our third Premier League game, two of the games have been against two of the top, top, top teams in the league.

“We know that Fulham are a very good and well established Premier League side now and it’s a great chance for us to go up against that, perform as well as we can and see where we’re.”

The Team

McKenna may not stray too far from the team which started at Manchester City last week with more of the new signings integrated over the course of the match.

Aro Muric will continue in goal with Axel Tuanzebe at right-back and Leif Davis on the left. McKenna could stick with the Luke Woolfenden-Jacob Greaves partnership at the heart of the defence.

Skipper Sam Morsy seems likely to be partnered by Massimo Luongo unless McKenna feels either Kalvin Phillips or Jens Cajuste, both of whom would be making their home and league debuts for the club, is ready to start a league match having played 66 minutes each at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

In the trio ahead of them, the Blues boss could opt to start home and Blues league debutant Jack Clarke on the left with Omari Hutchinson switching to the right for Ben Johnson, who played the full 90 minutes at both Manchester City and Plough Lane.

Szmodics, cup-tied in midweek, seems likely to start ahead of Conor Chaplin in the central role, with the latter set to make his 150th Town appearance if he gets on the field, which seems likely given McKenna’s liberal use of his attacking subs. Chiedozie Ogbene could be another home and league debutant from the bench at some stage.

Liam Delap again looks set to be the lone out-and-out striker with any addition made today arriving too late to be involved.

Opposition

The Cottagers are 10th in the early Premier League table having been beaten 1-0 at Manchester United on the opening weekend, before beating Leicester 2-1 at home last Saturday.

Boss Marco Silva is anticipating a difficult match having been impressed by the Blues over the last couple of seasons and in their opening fixture this term.

“I expect a really tough game,” he said. “They have an unbelievable winning mentality from the last two seasons. When you are promoted the way they were from League One to the Championship, and then Championship to the Premier League. I have to say that is unbelievable.

“They’ve played two really tough games against Liverpool and Manchester City but the first game of the season was a really tough one for Liverpool, the way they played, the atmosphere. It was a solid start for them except for the result.

“They made life difficult for Liverpool and they started the game with the right intensity, mentality and doing everything to win the game. Since then, they have made very good signings that will probably be in the squad and maybe the starting XI.

“It’s another chance for them to play at home. The environment will be the same - really big support for the home side and it’ll be a tough game.

“They really trust in their philosophy and process. They’ve been really successful in the last two seasons and I think they will continue in the same way.

“We need to be at our best level to make life really difficult for them and we need to keep improving, because there is big room for us to improve in certain aspects of the game and we need to show that.”

Silva, whose team won 2-0 at Birmingham City in their Carabao Cup tie on Tuesday having made 11 changes from the previous weekend, has a fully fit squad going into the match.

This summer they have signed Emile Smith Rowe from Arsenal for £34 million, Jorge Cuenca from Villareal, Joachim Andersen from Crystal Palace for £29.5 million and Sander Berge from Burnley for £25 million, while Ryan Sessegnon returned on a free transfer from Tottenham.

Tosin Adarabioyo departed on a free transfer and joined Chelsea, and Joao Palhinha moved on to Bayern Munich for £47.4 million.

Bobby de Cordova-Reid, now at Leicester, Marek Rodak, currently with Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia, and Tim Ream, who has joined Charlotte FC in the MLS, were released at the end of last season.

Recent History

Historically, the Blues have been victorious on nine occasions in games between the teams (six in the league), Fulham on 14 (11) and with eight (six) games ending in draws.

The teams last met in November last year in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup when the Premier League visitors beat the Championship Blues 3-1 at Portman Road.

The Cottagers went in front via Harry Wilson in the ninth minute as they dominated the first half but didn’t find a second goal until five minutes after the restart via Rodrigo Muniz.

Tom Cairney’s third on 77 all but sealed it, however, Elkan Baggott netted his first Town goal two minutes later to give the Blues late hope of a comeback which ultimately never came to fruition.

The Blues and the Cottagers also met in the Carabao Cup at the second-round stage in September 2020, again at Portman Road, when Aleksandar Mitrovic’s 38th-minute goal was enough to see Premier League side to a 1-0 win.

The Serbian headed home his 50th goal for the Cottagers from Kenny Tete’s excellent cross from the right and their victory was never under any serious threat.

In the league, the teams last met in the Championship at Craven Cottage in January 2018 when four goals in seven minutes after Town defender Jordan Spence had been red-carded saw Fulham come from behind to beat Mick McCarthy’s Blues 4-1.

Joe Garner gave Town the lead a minute before the break but the match turned on Spence’s dismissal for an off-the-ball barge on Aboubakar Kamara in the 54th minute with Ryan Sessegnon equalising on 69, Kamara securing the lead on 72 and then the pair each scoring again on 74 and 76.

The most recent Portman Road league meeting between the teams was in the preceding August when Neeskens Kebano and Rui Fonte netted goals either side of half-time to see Fulham to a comfortable 2-0 victory, ending Town’s 100 per cent start to their 2017/18 Championship campaign.

Kebano nodded home the opener for the dominant Cottagers on 35 and Fonte slammed a rebound into the roof of the net in the 51st minute with the Blues never looking like getting anything out of the game.

Familiar Faces

Blues first-team coach Sone Aluko was with Fulham between 2016 and 2017, making 53 starts and one sub appearance, scoring nine times.

Central defender Cameron Burgess joined the Fulham academy in 2011 and went on to make his senior debut for the Whites on the opening day of the 2014/15 season against Town at Portman Road in a game the Blues won 2-1.

Assistant boss Pert spent six months working as a conditioning coach with Fulham in 2009.

Head of analysis Charlie Turnbull was with the Whites until he moved to Portman Road in December 2021. Turnbull was U23s assistant coach and analyst with the Cottagers having joined them from Spurs in 2016 and having progressed through from working with the U13s and U14s.

Former Town midfielder Brian Talbot is the assistant director of football at Craven Cottage, where he briefly played late on in his career.

Fulham striker Jay Stansfield was a loan target of the Blues in a number of previous transfer windows.

Officials

Saturday’s referee is Lewis Smith from Wigan, who has shown 20 yellow cards and no red in eight games so far this season.

Coincidentally, Smith refereed the last meeting between the Blues and Whites, the Carabao Cup tie last season, in which he booked Marcus Harness, Jack Taylor and three of the visitors.

That game was the the first time Smith had refereed a top flight club with his Premier League debut Fulham’s home game against Aston Villa in February.

Smith’s only previous Town match prior to last season’s meeting with the Cottagers was the second-round Carabao Cup tie at Reading a couple of months earlier, which the Blues won 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

Smith booked George Edmundson, Lee Evans, Cameron Humphreys and two home players.

Assistants: Scott Ledger, Matthew Wilkes. Fourth official: Tim Robinson. VAR: Peter Bankes. Assistant VAR: Marc Perry.

Squad From

Muric, Walton, Slicker, Johnson, Townsend, Davis, Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Woolfenden, Burgess, Greaves, Phillips, Cajuste, Morsy (c), Luongo, Taylor, Hutchinson, Chaplin, Szmodics, J Clarke, Ogbene, Al-Hamadi, Delap, Ladapo.

Photo: TWTD

Somersetractor added 18:33 - Aug 30 I think Mckenna is basically saying, we don't want whingers and moaners just a loud positive atmosphere at PR. Sing it loud UTT !!
10

Lukeybluey added 18:36 - Aug 30 Got to make PR as hostile as it was against Liverpool, atmosphere was incredible, I don't think Liverpool liked it too much, especially first half. Get points on the board.
4

dirtydingusmagee added 19:30 - Aug 30 Think the fans need to give the team a vocal boost tomorrow the cup game will have knocked them as much as us ,our season starts tomorrow ,its going to be hard lets make Portman rd a scary place for visiting clubs.
6

ArnieM added 19:38 - Aug 30 Come on Town, let's have a real good go at this. Fulham aren't the same level as thd previous 2 fixtures, so let's really take the game to them. And come on us fans, let's make this atmosphere electric again. COYBSSSSSS
4

SickParrot added 19:42 - Aug 30 I agree with Kieran (of course) our season doesn't start tomorrow but it is our first realistic opportunity to get a point or three. Fulham are however a good Premier League team and must be regarded as favourites to win the game. I won't be too disappointed if we lose as long as it's a contest for the full 90+ minutes, we don't give silly goals away, and create some chances to score. The biggest problem for Kieran is picking the right blend of "old" and new players. My team would be Muric, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Greaves, Davis, Morsy, Phillips, Hutchinson, Szmodics, Clarke and Delap. I would expect Johnson and O'Shea to become first choice picks but Tuanzebe and Woolfy deserve to keep their places at present.

4

ipswichone added 09:23 - Aug 31 Kieran McKenna is our manager because of his thought process,you can see by every interview he does,how precise and articulated he is with words.he drives the team on,and will make us a force to be reckoned with.keep the faith! I always will with kieran McKenna leading us
4

bluebullet29l added 09:31 - Aug 31 This is going to be a long difficult season. We will be in the bottom 5. It's just where in that bottom 5 we finish. At the moment I have no idea but I'm seriously worried.
-3

Bazza8564 added 09:33 - Aug 31 Quite surprised with Phil's predictions in MF, was personally hoping Jens and Kalvin would go straight in today, possibly Kalvin with Sam but the Sam and Mass combination at this level feels off the pace ??
4

Fabianski added 10:02 - Aug 31 Hope I’m wrong, but it feels like head has ruled the heart with some of our transfers. The ‘what if we get relegated’ scenario has played heavily on the mind of MA and we are short on proven top class players as a result. It’s gonna be a long season and every point is going to have to be hard fought for - hope we’re up for it!
2

blueboy1981 added 10:13 - Aug 31 If we are to survive this Prem’ Test - the Season MUST start NOW !!
0

Leejames99 added 10:33 - Aug 31 Stevan Jovatic - Available Free Transfer, loads of experience most goals for country, played at highest level including the Premiership, one year deal on free transfer
1

blueboy1981 added 10:48 - Aug 31 Have we a Manager who is a Football Genius ? - or will we have a very expensive, but (hopefully) strong, Championship Team in August 25 ?? The Season has to start NOW to avoid the latter scenario.
2

Kickingblock added 11:09 - Aug 31 The season is already two games in! Once again, they're going to have to give it their best with whom they've got available. They did as best they could in the transfer window and now it's time to move forward. My ticket is paid for and all I can do is rock up and enjoy the matches. I'll enjoy it as best I can, it's top level sport! Roll with it!
2

dirtydingusmagee added 11:56 - Aug 31 Going to be tough im all ready chewing my nails prior to kickoff ,probably because of Wednesdays result.COYB8p
1

bluebullet29l added 12:04 - Aug 31 The season starts now...beattiesbackpocket said so....and Fulham are rubbish apparently....
1

Marcus added 12:31 - Aug 31 It's about wording - the season started against Liverpool, our away season started at Man City. They weren't games we had a realistic chance of winning, it was more about showing how well we can perform against settled squads from the elite subgroup at the top of the league. Now we have tests against some of the more typical Premier teams and that's where we have a more realistic chance of getting points. It isn't about the season starting, it's about the games being more competitive after the opening two.

2

bobble added 13:09 - Aug 31 2 ...0 to town ,,,irish goals
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