Fulham once again released a video preview of Kit speaking about the upcoming match.
The first thing on the agenda is updates on injuries. Tim Hoogland will need surgery and will be out at least three weeks before he can resume training. Fernando Amorebieta is in last week of treatment before he can try to resume training and they will know if he will need surgery. This is a little worrying as the club is still thin at fullback. Everyone else though is healthy and ready to play.
With the club being thin, and the January window about to open, he spoke a bit about the silly season. First, Ross McCormack is not for sale. All the rumors have not come from Fulham and there isn't the slightest desire to let him go. When asked about what they would be looking to do during the window, Kit had this to say:
If there's the right player at the right price, great we'll do it. But quite often it can be a bit of a panic market.
It's Mr. Khan's money, but I'll spend it like it was my own.
That's sensible. However, if you do sell off a player or two (Bryan Ruiz to name one) you might want to re-invest that money into some fullbacks. It's a tricky situation as Sean Kavanaugh and Jack Grimmer look like they might have futures at the position and you don't want to block them long term. However the squad does need some help there.
There was also a full radio interview with 107.8 Radio Jackie. Full audio is available here. Most of the comments were similar to what he said in the Fulham interview how ever he did give thoughts on how to break down a Sheffield side that has conceded the fewest goals in the league:
We need to be patient. We need to keep the ball. And we need to work the opening. We need to make sure we're ruthless in front of goal and take our chances when they come.
Stuart Gray has said that he believes a fast start can get the Fulham supporters to turn on the club. Obviously that happened at Watford, but Kit admitted even he was angry at that performance. He went on to say:
Our crowd is very good and very supportive.
They are a knowledgeable and understanding crowd.
I'm delighted that myself and the team both home and away have been given.
He answered questions about form and gave a very pragmatic answer that I loved to hear.
If you had said win the home one and draw the two away people would have been happy with it. As it turns out we got more points than that.
Watford was disappointing, but it's three points lost and that's all it was.
The subject of Alex Kacaniklic also came up as he was asked why the club decided to bring him back.
He's our player. He's got good Championship experience. He'll be almost like a new signing.
Finally, there's been a lot of diving discussion lately all around England. Even though it doesn't relate to Fulham at all, Kit was asked about. He answered how you would expect, though I'm not sure he's totally honest (which is slightly funny considering the quote).
The three main things we focus on are trust, honesty and belief and that would come under the honesty bracket and I expect that from my players at all times.
I have to say that if a Fulham player dives, draws a penalty, and that's the difference between winning and losing. Kit isn't going to suspend or berate that player. He's not going to appeal to the FA to take the points away. We all don't like diving in the abstract, but when it helps our club, we tend to look the other way.
I do agree with Kit that this will be a tough match. The key may just be to get a goal early. Sheffield will have a hard time coming from behind and getting them out of an organized shell might just lead to breaking them down and putting in a few more. We need the points, so lets hope for the best. I could use an early Christmas present.