Ranieri is braced for tough one with Fulham

ROMA coach Claudio Ranieri is expecting a very hard game against Fulham tonight in their Europa League showdown at the Stadio Olimpico.

The Giallorossi, still without star forward Francesco Totti through a knee injury, go into the game third in Group E, a point behind second-placed Fulham and two behind leaders Basle with three games left.

Fulham arrive in Rome on the back of a 3-1 win over Liverpool and Ranieri, a former coach of Chelsea, knows his team will be put to the test.

He said: “Fulham did well against Man City and won convincingly against Liverpool. We expect a difficult game.”

Roma halted a run of three Serie A defeats with a 2-1 win over Bologna at the weekend to climb to 14th in Serie A. But Ranieri admits his team are still a long way from their best. “We are missing a striker,” said Ranieri.

“We create chances but are lacking a player that finishes them off, we simply don’t seem to score many goals.”

Roma will be without injured pair Juan and Nicolas Burdisso but Mirko Vucinic has recovered from a muscular injury and is set to lead the attack alongside Julio Baptista.

Fulham captain Danny Murphy will miss tonight’s game after failing to recover from a knee injury. Damien Duff (Achilles) and Andrew Johnson (shoulder) are also set to miss out but Dickson Etuhu (knee) could play.

Fulham were on course for victory thanks to a Brede Hangeland header when they hosted Roma two weeks ago but all the hard work was undone as Marco Andreolli struck an equaliser with the last kick of the game. Fulham’s Zoltan Gera insists his side should still head into this crucial tie full of confidence.

Gera said: “I’m sure we can make up for it. It’s a massive game for us, and one that we really need to win. If we don’t get the three points there could be a lot of pressure on our shoulders.”