AJ injury upsets Fulham boss

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson admitted Thursday's 3-1 Europa League play-off victory over Amkar Perm has been overshadowed by a serious injury to Andrew Johnson.

Johnson is facing two months on the sidelines with a dislocated collarbone after a cynical body-check from Perm defender Dmitry Belorukov left him in a heap on the turf.

"It was a good win against a difficult team but the game has been marred by the unbelievably blatant challenge on Andy Johnson," blasted Hodgson.

"It has dislocated his collarbone and put him out for a long time.

"In these times when referees are supposed to be clamping down on challenges, you get a challenge like that which goes punished with a yellow card and we lose a player for eight weeks.

"I don't think there's any doubt the defender should have been sent off.

"If you commit blatant fouls that not only stop someone from going one-on-one with the keeper, but also put them in hospital, there's a good chance you'll get a red card."

Meanwhile, Hodgson was delighted with the threat posed by his attacking players after goals from Johnson, Clint Dempsey and Bobby Zamora wrapped up a comfortable first-leg win.

He added:"The best part of our game by a long stretch was the ability of our front two to cause them so many problems.

"They both scored and Bobby set up Andy's goal but now that partnership is broken up for the foreseeable future.

"We're looking to sign another front player so we'll consider bringing someone in, but that's not because Andy is injured but because we needed another front player anyway."

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