Berbatov blow for Fulham

Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov will be sidelined for up to two weeks after injuring his hip in training.

The 31-year-old, who signed from Manchester United in August, has netted twice in three appearances for Fulham but Martin Jol has confirmed the Bulgarian will miss his side’s clash against Manchester City on Saturday.

“Unfortunately Dimitar is injured now and can’t play on Saturday so that is the disappointing thing. He will be out for the next two weeks,” the Fulham manager said.

“In his session he was looking good, as usual, and then his final shot he felt something and he had to go in and stop training. It appears he had – not a tear – but a sort of problem with his hip and upper thigh so we couldn’t take the risk to involve him against City.”

Jol also revealed the club are closing in on signing a new midfielder but ruled out a move for Nigel Reo-Coker and Owen Hargreaves who were both released in the close season.

“It will be a central midfielder from abroad and we will have to test him to see if he’s fit and then we will talk to him. I’m confident of having the deal sorted next week,” Jol said.

“We’re trying to do something in the next couple of days but not with Nigel Reo-Coker or Owen Hargreaves.”

Jol has also been handed an injury boost after Mahamadou Diarra, who was initially ruled out for around six months, underwent surgery to fix a knee problem. The 31-year-old midfielder is now likely to be sidelined for around a month.

Jol said: “Diarra had a minor operation but he will still be out for the next four weeks at least. They removed a few little pieces of bone from his knee and that was it so that was pleasing. There was not a lot of damage.

“If there had been more damage with his knee with his ligaments or his cruciate then he could have been out for a lot longer but it was exactly what we thought it was. But it’s still four weeks.”