Fulham finished their pre-season campaign at Craven Cottage on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Premier League side Crystal Palace.
Sone Aluko opened the scoring for the Whites midway through the first half and Matt Smith made it two when his touch trickled past Speroni.
Youth prospect Keshi Anderson pulled one back for Palace with 10 to play, but Floyd Ayite sealed the win in added time.
Here are five talking points to take from the game.
Illness in SW6?
With the season opener against Newcastle United at the Cottage just 6 days away a sweeping illness was the last thing anyone in SW6 would have hoped for…
Reports prior to the game suggested there is a virus in the Fulham camp that has struck down some of the squad - Kevin McDonald, Tomas Kalas and Matt Smith clearly had the best immune systems of the group and were the sole survivors from the starting lineup that drew with CD National in Portugal on Monday.
Slavisa Jokanovic was not afforded the luxury of the standard pre-season strength in depth and could just about scrape four substitutes together in the shape of Richard Stearman, Scott Parker, Lasse Vigen Christensen and U21’s goalkeeper Marek Rodak - hardly the greatest start of what is meant to be the season that sees Fulham recover.
What beckons for Ryan Sessegnon?
Well, what a talent this young man is. The starlet only turned 16 in May this year, but is a current England under-17 international and is already attracting attention from a host of top-flight clubs.
Still registered as an under-18 at Craven Cottage, the left-sided player was the subject of a failed £3m bid from Arsenal, no less, in February, with the Liverpool hierarchy admirers, too.
Sessegnon already had a goal and an assist to him name this pre-season and started on the left, giving Palace right-back a hard time with numerous rampaging runs down the wing.
That said, he was sometimes found marginally out of position with McDonald having to cover, had mixed success containing Andros Townsend and Yannick Bolasie, yet he looked confident and not out of place amongst an experienced Whites lineup.
How will Fulham cope up front if/when McCormack’s transfer goes through?
It is undoubtedly fair to say that Fulham wouldn’t be looking at another season in the second tier had it not been for the 38 goals Ross McCormack netted over the past two seasons. Having already lost Moussa Dembele to Celtic, the Whites lack a huge amount of experience up top, with Cauley Woodrow and Matt Smith boasting just 17 goals between them for the club.
Nigerian international Sone Aluko joined on a free from Hull City earlier this month and looked bright against Palace, scoring the opening goal after 24 minutes and linking up well with fellow summer signing Floyd Ayite.
Aluko looked to be playing just behind target man Smith – who also notched against Palace – and could perhaps prove to be the creative influence required to get the current strikers firing regularly.
In any case, Jokanovic should soon find himself with over £10m to play with and will hope he can find a replacement to from somewhere to do the same damage McCormack and Dembele used to inflict on Championship defences…
The evergreen Scott Parker
He was expected to retire at the end of last season, but 35 year-old Scott Parker seemingly has unfinished business at the Cottage and signed a new one-year deal in the summer for his 20th season as a professional.
A gritty performance in his 25 minutes on the pitch showed the former Chelsea man still has the steel and determination required to succeed in the Championship – albeit potentially in a reduced capacity.
The club have tended to sign players closer to 30 than not this summer, but none will prove as influential – both on and off the pitch – as ‘old-head’ Parker who will hope to end his playing days at the end of the season in the opposite fashion to the past two.
So how are they gearing up for Newcastle?
The formation has been tinkered with throughout this pre-season, but it looks as though Jokanovic will stick with a 4-4-1-1, with Aluko just behind Smith leading the line.
With Ryan Fredericks ruled out for 3 months, Denis Odoi looks to be the first-choice right-back and whilst Sessegnon has impressed, Scott Malone will most likely find himself ahead of the youngster.
Scott Parker looked strong in midfield when he came on as did Cairney and McDonald – who should both be guaranteed starters.
It was hard to judge the prospects fully today without a complete squad, but one thing is for sure, after a 3-1 win over a strong Premier League side, Whites fans should be looking forward to the start of the season next Friday – even if Newcastle have spent nigh-on £40million this summer…
