Fulham
United States international Eddie Lewis will make a rare appearance on the
Fulham substitutes' bench at Blackburn.
But his first glimpse of first-team action in 18 months has been soured
by USA coach Bruce Arena calling Cottagers boss Jean Tigana "an absolute
jerk".
Arena wanted Lewis to play in a World Cup warm-up game on Sunday, but Fulham
have refused to release him until after the last-day Ewood Park clash, ruling
him out of his country's friendly.
Maik Taylor will have a rare first-team outing as regular number one Edwin van der Sar is recovering from the minor elbow operation he had on Tuesday.
Fulham striker Barry Hayles starts his three-match ban for violent conduct,
stemming from his bust-up with West Ham's Hayden Foxe - a suspension which
will carry over into next season.
Rufus Brevett's muscle strain is expected to give Jon Harley the starting
berth at left-back, while long-term broken leg casualty Chris Coleman
will be back in July.
Two more players focusing on pre-season returns are Luis Boa Morte and Lee
Clark.
Clark, who have had medial ligaments and Achilles operations respectively.
Fulham (from): Van der Sar, Harley, Finnan, Melville, Goma, Ouaddou,
Legwinski, Knight, Malbranque, Davis, Collins, Taylor, Marlet, Saha, Goldbaek,
Lewis.
Fulham (from):
Edwin van der Sar(G), Maik Taylor(G),
Steve Finnan(D), Andy Melville(D/C), Alain Goma(D/C), Abdeslam Ouaddou(D/C),
Zat Knight (D/C), Rufus Brevett(D),
Sylvain Legwinski(M), John Collins(M), Sean Davis(M), Bjarne Goldbaek(M),
Steed Malbranque(M/A), Luis Boa Morte(M/A), Andrejs Stolcers(M/A)
Bazza Hayles(A), Steve Marlet(A), Louis Saha(A).
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