MY ACCOUNT
Aleksandar Mitrovic remains a fitness doubt for the World Cup despite being named in Serbia’s 26-man squad, according to Fulham head coach Marco Silva.
The prolific striker has nine goals in 12 Premier League matches for Fulham this season, but he missed last week’s 2-1 loss to Manchester City through injury.
That foot issue is expected to rule Mitrovic out of Sunday’s home match against Manchester United, with that Fulham’s final outing ahead of the World Cup break.
Mitrovic was included in Dragan Stojkovic’s squad on Friday, but Silva revealed the 28-year-old still requires more medical checks before being cleared to take part in Qatar.
“What I can tell you is that it will be a decision made probably in the first days of next week, between the [Serbia] medical staff and our medical staff,” Silva told reporters.
“That will help decide what is the best decision for him, and for us as a club as well because he is really important.
“I’m not the right person to say now whether he will be fit or not to be there.
“What I know right now is that he wasn’t ready for the last match and will not be ready for the next one, unfortunately for us.
“What I can also tell you is that he cannot be harmed. He cannot be harmed for something that will come from the decision.”
Mitrovic has scored 50 goals in 76 appearances for Fulham, including eight in five in his country’s successful World Cup qualifying campaign.
Asked what would happen if Fulham recommended to Serbia that Mitrovic should not play, Silva said: “We don’t know what will happen.
“Mitro wants to be at the World Cup. He wanted to be available for Sunday here against Man United, and he wanted to play against City.
“This is the thing, it is not just because he wanted to be there. You have to wait for the decision from the medical staff. After, together, we’ll take a decision.”
Serbia are competing at their third World Cup as an independent nation and are in Group G alongside Brazil, Cameroon and Switzerland.
Dusan Tadic will captain the side in Qatar, while the likes of Dusan Vlahovic, Luka Jovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic have also been included in Stojkovic’s squad.
