Aston Villa vs Fulham: Testing times show no sign of letting up

Slavisa Jokanovic’s Fulham possessed the Championship’s most potent attack last season, a late burst which included a 3-1 win over Villa propelling them into the play-offs from which they were eventually bundled out by Jaap Stam’s obdurate Reading.

Tomorrow they will meet a Villa team aiming to reassert themselves after a derby no-show at Wolves.

Steve Bruce’s men had arrived at Molineux last weekend brimming with confidence and buoyed by a four-game winning streak which had appeared to confirm their status as contenders.

They left more than a little chastened, having failed to land a glove on their rivals during the course of 90 minutes.

One defeat, particularly to a team so strong as Wolves are at this stage of the campaign, is certainly no need to press the panic button. In this marathon division, there is no such thing as a season-defining game in October and the damage done to Villa’s position in the table was minimal on a weekend when 10 of the top 12 failed to win.

Yet Bruce is also acutely aware of the need to swiftly rebound from disappointment.

His reign to date has seen very little middle ground, with the team’s form fluctuating between either very good or pretty bad.

Last month’s winning streak fuelled hopes of a decisive upturn and there is now an eagerness to prove last Saturday was a mere off-day.

Villa won 1-0 when the teams last met at Villa Park, almost a year ago to the date, an acrobatic Jonathan Kodjia goal lighting up what was an otherwise dull game, for which the visitors were in the most part happy to hog possession without doing much with it.

Jokanovic’s team developed into a rather different prospect as the campaign progressed and their 85 goals scored was matched only by Brighton and Norwich.

The Serb, a one-time Chelsea team-mate of Villa skipper John Terry, wants his players to approach tomorrow on the front foot.

“In front of us is an important challenge against one of the best Championship teams. They have quality players but we go there with the motivation to win the game,” he said.

“We know what we’re going to find at Villa Park, and we must be strong when we lose the ball.”

Jokanovic, who expects to have Ryan Fredericks and Aboubakar Kamara back available, will also assess the skipper of Tom Cairney prior to kick-off. “It’s normal that he’s not at his best, but we believe he showed important promise, and every day he feels better. But we must be careful with him,” he said.

“Normally I’d prefer to use him always, but I must respect the competition and I must manage this situation best I can.

“I expect he can be part of the (Villa) game and I’ll try and choose what I believe is best for him and for my team.”