Fulham boss Martin Jol reveals Pavel Pogrebnyak doubt for Stoke City clash

Posted Sunday, February 05, 2012 by Goal.com

The 28-year-old is yet to obtain a work permit to allow him to play in the Premier League and may miss out on his debut 11 days after signing at Craven Cottage

Martin Jol has revealed new signing Pavel Pogrebnyak could be a doubt to make his debut for Fulham against Stoke City next Saturday.

The Russia international completed his move to Craven Cottage from Stuttgart on deadline day but Jol revealed complications are likely to hinder the striker's chances of integrating fully with the squad before his side's home clash against Tony Pulis' men.

“He has not got a work permit but hopefully he will be in the country at the end of the week. We think Thursday, maybe Friday,” said Jol.

Fulham were beaten 3-0 by Manchester City on Saturday evening, leaving Jol's men with just eight points from 12 away games this term.

Sergio Aguero opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Adam Johnson was fouled in the area by Chris Baird, but Jol believes the decision was harsh.

“The first goal was a soft penalty," he said. "Maybe Johnson did well - it is a decision for the referee to make but I felt it was soft. And the second was an own-goal so you could say we were a little bit unlucky."

Baird then scored an own goal to double City's lead before Edin Dzeko completed the victory after a fine run from Aguero.

“You can always expect a defeat here because City are a good team, but we knew that before the game," said Jol.

“We looked okay when we kept the ball but not when we didn’t have it. If you keep the ball against them, you can create something.

“We had some good attacks but we lacked the awareness - that was probably because of the score.”