Despite rarely being a regular starter under Slavisa Jokanovic, Stefan Johansen remained a valuable asset for his national team, captaining Norway throughout the UEFA Nations League.
Starting all nine of their previous games, the Fulham midfielder was expected to do the same on Monday night against Cyprus, except he didn’t.
Just before the game, it was announced he would be sitting the fixture out, with Nettavisen claiming he had been struggling with a ‘niggle in his thigh’.
Notway didn’t exactly miss him, as they walked away with the three points after beating Cyprus 2-0, but the thigh injury is something Claudio Ranieri, recently appointed as Jokanovic’s successor at Craven Cottage, probably could have done without.
The Italian has already made it clear he doesn’t care how he wins as long as he wins, so we could expect some more defensive displays from the Cottagers going forward, starting with a home fixture against Southampton on Saturday.
Fulham haven’t scored a goal in a game since October 20th, when they lost 4-2 away to Cardiff City.
