Fulham manager Álvaro Arbeloa is looking forward to a return to Premier League action, not least because he has a fully fit squad to choose from ahead of the trip to Ipswich Town.
While the whole squad is in full training, the game may come too soon for Tom Cairney as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.
“We are very happy because everybody is back and fit,” Arbeloa said in his pre-match press conference. “At the moment, everybody is fit and available.
“Tom Cairney, we are so happy to have him with us again but now is a little bit soon for him because he needs to keep training, but we are happy that he is training with the rest of the team.”
The 12 players who were away on international duty have returned to training at Motspur Park over the last few days.
It was a particularly successful international break for Shea Charles and Gonzalo Garcia, who both found the net for Northern Ireland and Spain Under-21s respectively. Oscar Bobb also scored twice for Norway in Nations League matches against Denmark and Wales.
The winger opened his Fulham account in the win at West Ham before the break, and Arbeloa believes he can continue to make an impact in front of goal.
“I am so happy [for him],” said Arbeloa. "We need his goals and I know how talented Oscar is.
“He can score goals, he can assist and he’s a very good player in one-on-one situations. He has the quality, the talent, the attributes. I hope he will be able to score more goals with us."
There has been a degree of symmetry to ours and Ipswich’s first five fixtures. The Tractor Boys have shared four of the same opponents as Arbeloa’s side.
90th-minute winners against both Sunderland and Crystal Palace has seen Gary O’Neil’s side take six points from their first five matches, representing a more than solid start for a side that underwent plenty of change during the summer.
“We will play against a very good team who have also had a tough start, like us,” said Arbeloa. “If we want to beat them, we will have to play at our best. Away games are always difficult, never easy, we know that.
“They have very good players, a very good coach and they will be very difficult for us.
“They are a very aggressive team, very good players. You see it at the front with Emersonn, [Julio] Enciso, [Abdul] Fatawu. [Exequiel] Palacios and [Saša] Lukic, very good midfielders.
"They can defend, they can attack, a very well-balanced team. They can do everything on the pitch and they have clear ideas. They’ve had a good first month and we need to be ready.”