Terriers will have to deal with Fulham's altered mindset

An own goal from Timothy Fosu-Mensah ensured the Terriers claimed a first win of the season against Slavisa Jokanovic’s London club on Bonfire Night.

Since then the Serbian has been replaced at Craven Cottage by Claudio Ranieri and Wagner expects the Italian’s influence to be keenly felt when the Premier League’s bottom two clubs go head to head on the banks of the Thames.

“Fulham will have a different mindset to last time,” said the German. “Less ball possession, less circulation, much less passes.

“They play from a solid, stable defence and deeper block and try to attack on the counter.

“We will probably win the ball much less often higher up the pitch. We are aware what we will face. Hopefully we will find a good solution.”

Jonathan Hogg is expected to return after being kept on the bench in the Boxing Day defeat at Manchester United with this fixture in mind.

Wagner may also turn to Steve Mounie for the spark that has been missing in front of goal for a Terriers side who have netted just 12 times in 19 league outings this term.

“Our problem is obvious,” said the Town chief about neither Mounie nor fellow striker Laurent Depoitre having found the net all season.

“Obviously we have not solved this problem so far. This is the truth. But if you perform as we have done there will be the point when we start to score goals.

“That is how football works. I know it. We have to deliver it. Performance is so important. You can’t say it would be better if we didn’t perform well because we would win games.”