You would have thought a fragile Fulham would want its two best forwards at the cutting edge to keep the ball at the sharp end of the pitch.
But Ross McCormack was forced to plough a lone furrow at Brentford until it was all too late.
The score was 3-0 by the time Slavisa Jokanovic brought on Moussa Dembele for a better second half. In fact, a steadier aim by the exciting teenager would have pulled one back for Fulham.
However, the head coach admitted for the first time he fears losing the 19-year-old, out of contract in the summer.
Dembele was on the cusp of joining Tottenham in January before the deal fell through.
Chelsea, Everton and Liverpool are all monitoring a player with 17 goals this season.
Joka has been bullish on keeping one half of a Whites scoring machine, but the truth is, and he knows it, Dembele’s future is up for grabs.
At Brentford, the head coach wanted to see how his side coped with a lone attacker - not very well is the obvious, based on this mismatch.
The head coach said: “It’s very simple. Dembele is one of my two best players. I am sure he is not going to be my player next season.
“I don’t see him so focused for this game. It was my decision to try with an extra midfielder and be a bit more solid, and I didn’t find it here. So we have to search for the right way.”
Below is a reminder of why Dembele is so coveted.
