How much would Fulham suffer if Moussa Dembele and Ross McCormack were to leave in January?

With Fulham's season stagnating and the club being handed a transfer embargo for a £6m loss after relegation from the Premier League, the Cottagers may not be able to keep their prized assets.

The club may look to balance the books this transfer window by selling strikers Moussa Dembele and Ross McCormack, who have been linked with moves higher up the Football League ladder.

Scotland international McCormack has scored 14 league goals for the Championship side this season and is attracting interest from Derby County and Middlesbrough - with the latter having tried to sign the forward for £2.5 from Leeds in 2013.

The 29-year-old is worth around £11m and although Boro have ruled themselves out of signing, Betfair have the North East side at 6/4 to sign the Glaswegian.

Selling Dembele would be an equally painful blow for Fulham, with the French U19 international the team's second top goalscorer, netting 9 in the second tier.

The starlet has attracted interest from a number of sides across Europe, including Manchester United, Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund and Serie A leaders Napoli.

The former Paris Saint-Germain youth player is out of contract with the Whites in the summer and moving him on this transfer window would aid the London club's finances significantly.

With the striker being under 24, European clubs will have to pay the Cottagers a small amount of compensation in addition to the transfer fee, but the English system would bring in a substantially higher sum.

Although boss Slavisa Jokanovic has denied thinking of selling his stars, if a large enough bid were to come in for either player they could well be allowed to leave.

But how costly would losing Dembele and McCormack be for the Cottagers?

Fulham are six points above the Championship drop-zone, and have only one win in their last 12 league outings - against 20th placed Rotherham.

The Whites have the best attacking record in the division largely due to their strike partnership of Dembele and McCormack, who have bagged 23 of Fulham's 42 goals this season.

The pair's goals have secured their side 13 points so far this term and if they were removed, the London club would be languishing at the foot of the Championship, three points behind struggling Bolton.

In addition to scoring, Fulham are also dependent on the two to create and provide assists for the rest of the team.

With 62 chances produced between them, Dembele and McCormack are vital for carving out opportunities in front of goal.

The Scot in particular is important in this sense, with six assists to date - one short of Championship leaders Ross Wallace, Harry Bunn and Alan Judge.

The player behind Fulham's scoring table is 21-year-old Cauley Woodrow with four.

Although a few goals behind the starting pair, the English front-man has a goals per minute record of 67.5, better than both McCormack (166.6) and Dembele (200.9).

The youngster has however only played 270 minutes of league football this season and three of his goals have come against a Rotherham side with the third leakiest defence in the Championship.

Fulham's defensive record is tied with Bristol City's as second worst in the league - having conceded 46 times and keeping only two clean sheets.

The Cottagers are heavily reliant on the duo's goals and creativity to atone for the back-line, but selling them on this transfer window would also have a massive impact on squad morale and the mindset of the players.

Losing the two top-scorers would have a ripple-effect through the squad, and could lead to players losing hope for the rest of the season, as no replacements can be brought in.

The Cottagers are stuck between a rock and a hard place this January - needing to balance the books and prepare for the summer, but also needing to solidify a place in the Championship next season.

It will be a nervous winter window for Fulham fans, who can breathe again when it slams shut at 11pm on February 1.