Martin Jol knows Fulham face a tough task at Manchester City but believes his side can frustrate the league leaders.
The Cottagers on Saturday face the unenviable task of trying to become the first side to take points off Roberto Mancini’s side at the Etihad Stadium this season.
City have won all 11 home league matches and scored 34 goals in the process, although Fulham can be buoyed by the fact were the first team to take points off the Citizens this season.
While Jol downplayed the importance of the 2-2 draw back in mid-September, he believes his side have it within themselves to ask questions of the league leaders.
“I am not sure [what we can do differently to those 11 sides that have lost] because there were quite a few good teams going over there,” the Dutchman said.
“Of course away from home they are good, but they are even better at home.
“We have to find a solution to give them a few questions.
“We did that in the second half at Craven Cottage but in the first half [Sergio] Aguero and [David] Silva were a handful.
“If you remember, the manager took them off and we scored our two goals and could have even scored a winner after that.
“We took the first points off them and of course they have had a few disappointing matches, like Everton.
“We hope to do the same away from home. Every game is different.
“I can understand why managers go there and try and narrow the space and play compact but sometimes maybe the solution is to play four attackers.
“Real Madrid, the best in Spain and top of the league by seven points, tried everything against Barcelona and still lost.
“So sometimes there is no solution but we will have a game plan, make a decision and we’ll have to wait and see.
“For me the most important thing is to get this game out of the way. We will see after the game what the result will be.”
Fulham come into the game off the back of a frustrating 1-1 draw with West Brom on Wednesday evening.
The match was the west Londoners’ first since Bobby Zamora’s move to QPR and saw them run without a recognised striker in their starting line-up.
Jol was philosophical about the result and believes the best is yet to come.
“It was frustrating, but you have to take into consideration the day before,” he said.
“[Mousa] Dembele dropped out injured, Andy Johnson dropped out injured and Bobby, of course, was not there.
“We had to play with Simon Davies for the first time, Clint Dempsey up front for the first time, Bryan Ruiz in a different role so it was not ideal preparation.
“Against West Brom you have to be patient to get through and with quality you can do that, like we did on our goal.
“Bryan Ruiz played a killer ball and Clint (was) on the end of it. But to concede that goal that was disappointing.
“We have had nine draws so we are always on the fringe of doing fantastic and doing what we are doing now.”
Fulham’s attack will be boosted at City on Saturday by the return of Belgium international Dembele after a hip problem, although Johnson continues to miss out with a groin injury and new signing Pavel Pogrebnyak is waiting for clearance.
Jol has a decision to make on whether to start David Stockdale in goal after regular number one Mark Schwarzer recovered from a spine injury picked up in mid-December.
Steve Sidwell misses out after a hernia injury, while Dickson Etuhu is set to be welcomed back to the fold.