Preview: Fulham vs. Watford

If Watford are beaten at Craven Cottage by Fulham in this week's Friday night Championship match it will be five defeats in a row for the Hornets.

Slavisa Jokanovic's side have plunged from the top of the table down to seventh because of their recent slump and will be desperate to get back to winning ways.

On Saturday they fell to a second straight home defeat as Cardiff City left with the three points at Vicarage Road thanks to a narrow 1-0 win.

Hornets centre-back Joel Ekstrand has spoken out in support of Jokanovic since then, saying that everyone at the club needs to improve.

Watford will need to improve their poor recent record against Fulham if they are to pick up a maximum - they have failed to score in five of their last six league trips to Craven Cottage.

Hosts Fulham have lost just one of their last seven games at home and enter the match on the back of an encouraging victory on Saturday.

The Cottagers were losing in the second half to Brighton & Hove Albion but staged a late fightback to move themselves four points clear of the drop zone.

Kit Symons has drastically improved their fortunes since taking charge. In fact, the club have been a top-six side since Felix Magath's dismissal, with 21 of their 22 points this season coming under the Welshman.

Fulham:

Form in Championship: WDDWLW Form in all competitions: LDDWLW

Possible starting lineup: Bettinelli; Grimmer, Hutchinson, Bodurov, Stafylidis; Ruiz, Christensen, Parker, Hyndman; McCormack, Rodallega

Watford:

Recent form: DWLLLL

Possible starting lineup: Gomes; Bassong, Ekstrand, Angella; Parades, Abdi, Tozser, Munari, Anya; Deeney, Vydra

Sports Mole says: 2-2