Zaccheroni relishing meeting Hodgson again

ALBERTO Zaccheroni has warned his Juventus side to avoid complacency against Fulham as he looks to put one over on his old adversary Roy Hodgson in tomorrow’s Europa League last 16 first leg contest.

Fulham have been one of the surprise packages of the competition this year after they qualified from a group containing Serie A’s Roma before knocking out Shakhtar Donetsk, the winners of the competition last season in its former guise as the UEFA Cup.

The Bianconeri, who have won the competition three times, have the better side on paper and are clear favourites to progress.

Zaccheroni only beat Hodgson once during the three spells the 62-year-old spent in Italy and he has told his team they will have to fight hard to beat the Cottagers.

“He is a very honest person. He plays teams in a very structured system, 4-4-2,” said Zaccheroni of Hodgson, who managed Inter Milan twice and Udinese in the 1990s.

“His teams are always successful without trying to do too much, they just keep it simple.

“We should never underestimate him and his team. He was worked hard and has fought hard as a manager.”

Fulham’s 3-2 aggregate victory over Ukrainian side Shakhtar was a sign for Zaccheroni of how far Hodgson has taken the Londoners since he brought them back from the brink of relegation in 2007.

“I watched Fulham when they played Shakhtar and they were very strong on the field,” added the former AC Milan boss.

“They were arranged very orderly and have plenty of good players so tomorrow will be a tough match.

“None of the players play for themselves, they all play for the team they can defend really well, we all saw that from the match in Donetsk.

“They are a typical English team, they’re very tough, they create a lot and have some excellent players who just want to play for the team.”

Zaccheroni had to conduct most of Juventus’ training session indoors yesterday after heavy snow hit Turin.

The game looks likely to go ahead, however, but the Old Lady will be without key players Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini and Amauri who are all out with thigh injuries.

Fulham will be without captain Danny Murphy (ban).

Nicky Shorey and Stefano Okaka, who are both cup-tied, will also be missing.

Paul Konchesky could replace Shorey at left-back if he recovers from an ankle injury but Andy Johnson, Clint Dempsey and John Pantsil (all knee) are out.