Coleman seeks another new signing

Chris Coleman would like to further strengthen his Fulham squad despite having brought in three new faces over the past fortnight.

Fulham continued their build-up to the new Barclays Premiership campaign with a pre-season friendly against Rangers yesterday as part of a series of matches to mark their return to Craven Cottage.

It has proved to be far from a happy homecoming for Coleman’s men, who have now failed to score in three matches following the 1-0 defeat to the Ibrox side which came on the back of a 2-0 beating by Celtic and a goalless draw with Watford.

However, the Fulham boss is focussing more on what lies ahead rather than reflecting too much on defeats in what were, in essence, nothing more than training exercises.

Neither latest signings Tomasz Radzinski nor Claus Jensen featured yesterday, and while Andy Cole did get a run-out during the second half, the former Manchester United striker did not have much opportunity to impress.

The Fulham boss hopes to have at least one further new face in the ranks over the coming weeks.

“I know the team in my mind I would like to start, but one or two of the players that I would like to start are not firing at the minute,” he said.

“But we have got three more games and a little bit of time in pre-season and it is up to me to get them as fit as I can and in the right frame of mind.

“We have got a good team now I think, a good depth in the squad and once we have got the players back to fitness, I am really looking forward to the season.”

The Fulham manager added: “I think there is a possibility we can bring in another player, I would like to. I think we need to.

“I would say possibly in midfield, but we will have to wait and see. We have lost Martin Djetou, lost Junichi Inamoto, so we are still a body down.

“I think it is always good to bring in new faces, it freshens things up. I have a great bunch of lads, but every now and again we are all guilty of taking our foot off the gas and getting complacent.

“When you bring in new faces, then it gives everyone a bit of a livener.

“I am delighted with the guys we have got, and if I can bring in one more, I will be happy.”

After losing home-grown talent Sean Davis to Tottenham this summer, it is no surprise the Fulham boss is in the market for another midfielder. He remains, though, less than impressed with Gamba Osaka as the saga over Inamoto’s permanent move to Fulham rumbles on.

“The price they are asking now is ridiculous,” declared Coleman, who had the Japanese international on loan last season.

“We will not bend on what we are offering, and it does not look like they are bending on what they are wanting, so at the moment it is a stalemate.

“The figure is nowhere near what we want to pay. I want to bring Inamoto back, of course. We would sign him now if the price is right, but it is not.

“He has got a year left on his contract, but he is not going to be fit really until November.

“Then when you get to January, they have problems because he only has six months left on his contract and he can walk for nothing.”

Coleman will now take his team up to Scotland for games against Partick Thistle and Hearts before facing Feyenoord in Holland ahead of the opening-day date with Manchester City on August 14.

The Welshman believes it will serve Fulham better in the long run to have taken on such opposition.

He said: “We will have had four Scottish friendlies and the reason for that is they are similar in terms of pace of the game and the power to the Premiership and that is why we wanted to play Celtic and Rangers.

“They were good, tough games and we knew that we would be stretched.

“We could go to Sweden, play a non-league team and win 5-0 – but I am not going to learn anything from that and neither are my players.

“You learn a lot more from playing the likes of Celtic and Rangers, even if you get beaten.

“If we are to get off to a good start against Manchester City, the next three friendlies are very important and we need to improve on our performance.”