Club captain Lee Clark has warned Fulham's dithering defenders to remember how to mark opponents or face being dumped out of the FA Cup at Everton on Sunday.
The Cottagers captain was fuming after his team-mates gave the Newcastle strikeforce the freedom of St James' Park on Monday night - with three converted crosses clinching a 3-1 success against Chris Coleman's side.
A repeat showing at Goodison Park will only cause more problems in the visitors' defence, with the Merseysiders' aerial power widely acknowledged.
Fulham battled to a 2-1 home success against David Moyes' men earlier this month and Clark called for a repeat performance from his backline.
"If you can't defend set-pieces and are up against top-class players, you get punished," he said.
"We have to rectify that quickly as, when things aren't going well from set-pieces away from home, the last place you want to go is Goodison Park.
"They'll throw balls into the box and have tall players who like to get on the end of crosses. It'll be a massive test for us.
"Everton are a big, physical team with a lot of options up front and we know what to expect."
More slack marking would spell more bad news for Coleman, whose players are bidding to kick-start the post-Louis Saha era.
David Moyes has demanded that his misfiring strikers start finding the net, although if midfielder Steve Watson can lend a helping hand the Everton manager will be more than happy.
Moyes has five first-team strikers fit at the moment but their wastefulness has seen Everton lose two successive league games.
In last weekend's 1-0 defeat at home to Charlton, Moyes used all five to no avail. Duncan Ferguson, Francis Jeffers, Kevin Campbell, Wayne Rooney and Tomasz Radzinski were all on the park at some stage, but chance after chance went begging.
That, insists Moyes, has to change. Now on Sunday they run into a Fulham side with former team-mate Brian McBride making his debut for the Londoners in the FA Cup fourth round at Goodison Park.
And free-scoring midfielder Watson, after months of injury problems, could just be ready for a recall after returning to full training this week.
He said: "I hate being out, I hate watching matches. I am just about at the end of my tether.
"What I want now is to get myself back into the team and have an injury-free rest of the season. The cup tie would be a nice one to return in."
Watson has not played since December 13 at Portsmouth, and has struggled to overcome a double hernia operation and more recently a thigh strain.
And despite having now missed seven successive matches, the versatile midfielder is still Everton's third-top scorer this term.
Watson admits that his long spell out is partly his own fault for trying to come back too soon.
He says: "Some players are their own worst enemies. They push themselves and try to come back too quickly.
"That is what I did. I got a leg injury in the reserves, but limped around in training and played at Portsmouth. That is what gave me the thigh strain, it was just my eagerness to get back into the team."
Watson has only played 11 games this season, and his attacking midfield play has been badly missed.
"All being well I will be in the squad for the cup game," he said.
Moyes added: "If he has no reaction we will then make a decision about the cup tie.
"I think it has been a quite a frustrating time for him after coming back and then picking up a thigh strain at Portsmouth, so he has missed quite a bit of football."
source=sportinglife
|
Goodison Park in Liverpool
FA Cup 4th round -
25 Jan 04
(Stats relate to Premiership games)
|
Pos |
Everton |
Fulham |
Pos |
| Games Played |
14 |
22 |
22 |
7 |
| GOALS |
| Goals |
14 |
25 |
34 |
4 |
| Ave Goals Per Game |
|
1.14 |
1.55 |
|
| Shots |
7 |
236 |
239 |
6 |
| % Goals To Shots |
15 |
11% |
14% |
5 |
| Shots On Target |
11 |
94 |
115 |
6 |
| % Shots On Target |
19 |
40% |
48% |
2 |
| Ave Shots Per Game |
|
10.7 |
10.9 |
|
| Ave Shots On Target Per Game |
|
4.3 |
5.2 |
|
| PASSING |
| Total Passes |
13 |
7449 |
8155 |
8 |
| Ave Passes Per Game |
|
339 |
371 |
|
| CROSSING |
| Total Crosses Made |
1 |
625 |
397 |
20 |
| Ave Crosses Per Game |
|
28 |
18 |
|
| DEFENDING |
| Goals Conceded |
11 |
29 |
32 |
13 |
| Ave Goals Conceded Per Game |
|
1.32 |
1.45 |
|
| Tackles |
3 |
688 |
767 |
1 |
| Tackles Won |
5 |
485 |
571 |
1 |
| % Tackles Won |
18 |
70% |
74% |
3 |
| Ave Tackles Won Per Game |
|
22 |
26 |
|
| Clean Sheets |
15 |
6 |
7 |
10 |
| DISCIPLINE |
| Fouls |
18 |
278 |
315 |
10 |
| Average fouls per game |
|
13 |
14 |
|
| Yellow Cards |
8 |
37 |
35 |
10 |
| Fouls per Yellows |
17 |
7.5 |
9.0 |
9 |
| Red Cards |
|
2 |
2 |
|
| Figures in the Pos columns indicate position in Premiership |
 |
|