Fulham face escalating injury crisis after new six-man update for Arsenal clash

Frustrated Marco Silva set to name depleted side against the Premier League leaders at Craven Cottage

Marco Silva has lamented Fulham ’s current injury crisis as the worst he has ever experienced at the club, with a number of first-team players set to miss out against Arsenal .

Silva, who was already contending with a growing injury list before the international break, has confirmed that Antonee Robinson, Sasa Lukic and Rodrigo Muniz will not be available for Saturday’s visit of the Premier League leaders to Craven Cottage, while he also expects Samuel Chukwueze to be sidelined.

Chukwueze has had a scan on his calf, having been withdrawn at half-time during Nigeria's 4-0 victory over Benin in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday, while Robinson did not take part in either of the USA’s matches over the international period despite earning his first call-up this year.

Meanwhile, Muniz (hamstring) and Lukic (groin) are still unavailable, having missed the recent internationals through injury. Silva also said that Kenny Tete (knee) and Raul Jimenez (hip) remained doubts.

“The number of injuries, they are not good for us at the moment, and it is what it is,” Silva said on Friday. “It’s not been the best in the last few weeks, and unfortunately, even because of the international break, we are probably in a worse situation than before.

“Being clear, Robinson is going to be out. Sasa Lukic is going to be out, Rodrigo Muniz is going to be out, Chukwueze is probably going to be out, and Kenny and Raul, they are doubts. Right now, we are not sure that they can be involved in the squad list.

“Lukic, probably (will be) more than one or two weeks. Let’s see how he is going to react.

Scan: Samuel Chukwueze is the latest addition to Fulham’s growing injury list

Getty Images

“He’s on the (training) pitch (but) not working with the team. He’s doing some rehabilitation, starting to do some first steps on the pitch, like Rodrigo started running as well, but it’s difficult to have a timescale about both players.

“Kenny is recovering, but still not at that level yet, and Chukwueze came out at half-time last time for Nigeria and today he went for a scan, let’s see how he’s going to be. He felt something in the calf, and it didn’t look really, really serious.”

Robinson’s latest setback is the one that will frustrate Silva the most, having admitted that he previously hoped to have the left-back fit by the end of August.

"It's been a tough start to the season for him,” Silva said. “We wanted him at his level at the end of August, unfortunately not the case. We felt he was getting better; he had two to three sessions with USA, then wasn't able to train.

"We cannot hide Robinson's impact in the last few seasons. Kenny is key; Sasa has been one of our best players. Two strikers at the same time (out injured), plus Chukwueze. It is what it is, it's the reality, we try and take care of the players the best we can.

"We have been really unlucky, we are not at the same level without these players. This is our worst injury period we've had in my time at the club."