The jury is out on whether Kostas Stafylidis will get a permanent contract - according to his Fulham boss.
The left-back was dropped for the 5-1 home hammering by Bournemouth on Friday, but appeared anyway as a 72nd minute sub after Fernando Amorebieta was red carded on his comeback.
Stafylidis, on loan from Bayer Leverkusen, is a rare success from Felix Magath’s recruitment drive last summer.
The Greek international has been all but ever present over 42 appearances until Friday, and judging by Kit Symons’ cautious tone, the 21-year-old still has much to do if he is to remain next season.
“He’s a young player, and he’s having to adapt to a new environment in a very different league with a very different style of play,” the manager said.
“He’s done quite well. We’ve asked him to adapt and change his game slightly and do different things. He’s tried to take it on board and put into practice.”
There were furrowed brows on the bench at Sunderland in the FA Cup when Stafylidis backed off to give Black Cats far too much space. Since when, he’s been far more like the human glue demanded by the gaffer.
“We like to press she we haven’t got the ball,” added Symons. “We want him to get out to the wide player quickly and engaged him. Since Sunderland, he’s done that quite well.
“He’s been playing in the team that tells a story and done well to hold down a position. Time will tell on decisions (over his future) and he needs to keep working hard and playing well from now until the end of the season.”
