PREM: Fulham v Southampton preview

Fulham v Southampton preview

Claudio Ranieri has called on Fulham to "clean everything and restart" as he faces Southampton in his first match in charge on Saturday.

Ranieri has been appointed to replace Slavisa Jokanovic and try to turn things around after a six-match losing streak.

Ranieri won the title in his last spell in the Premier League with Leicester, but his primary aim now is to shore up Fulham's defence, which has conceded 31 goals this season.

"Forget the past. Today I said this, restart every time, we can win, lose, clean and restart tomorrow. I show them some videos from the previous game and I said what is right and what is wrong," he said.

 

"This week, I work hard and they (the players) follow me very well, but it's not possible in very few days to arrange everything. I hope to maintain the clean sheet and then if we can score, it's much better."

 

Southampton have only made a marginally better start to the season than Fulham.

 

They are three points above their weekend opponents and manager Mark Hughes is reportedly under pressure.

"There will always be speculation, I call it noise," he said. "At the moment the noise is around me, it's the nature of the role... the only way it goes away is by getting positive results and positive performances."

 

Kevin McDonald and Andre Anguissa are unavailable for Fulham.

However, left-back Joe Bryan could return after seven weeks out with a hamstring injury.

 

Southampton will assess Danny Ings' fitness, but Hughes said on Thursday that the striker is a big doubt.

Ings limped off the pitch with a suspected hamstring problem during Southampton's 1-1 league draw with Watford earlier this month and trained separately during the international break.

Southampton are without the suspended Ryan Betrand so Matt Targett is likely to start. Mohamed Elyounoussi (hamstring) and Mario Lemina (thigh) should be available.