Fulham welcome back long-term absentee Tom Cairney for derby with QPR

Fulham have Tom Cairney available for the first time in almost a year for their west London derby against QPR.

Cairney has been out with a knee injury since December 19 2020 and has undergone extensive rehabilitation but manager Marco Silva has confirmed the midfielder will be involved this weekend.

Fabio Carvalho was expected to be available for a return to action after the international break and could also be included against QPR.

However, Terence Kongolo and Kenny Tete may be absent again as they recover from long-term injury problems.

QPR will have to assess three players ahead of the short trip to Craven Cottage.

Andre Gray has been on international duty with Jamaica and was only due to return to the training ground on Friday so is unlikely to feature.

Sam McCallum and Lee Wallace also look set to be missing as they battle back from hamstring problems.

Midfield duo Sam Field and Charlie Owens, neither of whom have played yet this season, will again sit the match out.