Lennon, who has yet to make an appearance this season due to knee surgery, has been omitted from Steve McClaren's England squad for the crucial qualifiers against Israel and Russia and although the winger is unlikely to start at Craven Cottage, his return is a massive boost for a side that has been criticised for lacking real width over the past four games. If his side are struggling, expect to see Jol introduce Lennon as an impact sub to try an open up a Fulham defence that has looked less than solid of late. Dawson and Kaboul, despite the relatively impressive performances of Anthony Gardner and Ricardo Rocha against Man United last week, may well return to sure up a defence that was generally excellent against last years Champions. Elsewhere, Spurs fans will no doubt be excited to see Gareth Bale continue on the left side of midfield after impressing last Sunday.
Despite allegedly being promised more first team football by his manager, Jermain Defoe is unlikely to oust Robbie Keane from the starting line-up with Jol almost certain to opt for his favourite pairing of the Irishman with the Bulgarian. Darren Bent could feature at some point after recovering from a thigh strain.
Last year Spurs demolished Fulham at Craven Cottage in the FA Cup and it is with no small degree of Irony that we face them tomorrow. According to certain sources, Martin Jol's future was in question before two goals spectacular goals from Robbie Keane and a brace from Dimitar Berbatov ended Fulham's FA Cup dreams and tomorrow the Dutchman makes the short trip to Fulham under similar amounts of pressure. Despite a good performance against United last week, a loss is a loss. Jol and his players can ill afford to allow the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal to speed away in the race for a Champions League place. It probably comes as no exaggeration that some are calling tomorrow's match a 'must win' for everyone concerned with Tottenham, particularly Martin Jol.
Despite inconsistency in recent times against Fulham, there is cause for optimism. Injuries to Brian McBride and Bouazza have robbed our opponents of two of their most effective attacking players and loss of Niemi in goal has left only the calamitous Tony Warner between the sticks. That said, Diomansy Kamara and David Healy are a potent strike pairing and with the likes of Smertin and Simon Davies in midfield, Fulham have an underrated and wily team who, on their day, can cause any team in the land a great deal of trouble. After the United match, however, I expect our players to be in surprisingly high spirits and with the attacking options we have, we are bound to make life difficult for Fulham.
Where Fulham may be most vulnerable is defence. Although in the long run selling the error prone Zat Knight (who was partly responsible for two of our goals in the cup match last year) may well be a blessing in disguise for Lawrie Sanchez, selling your main defender just days before facing Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane isn't the wisest move. The purchase of Stefanovic will add reliability to a defensive line-up that has struggled to hold on to the lead in the first few games of the season but simply the fact that Fulham have started brightly in all their matches will give Jol and Chris Houghton cause for concern. I expect to see an assured performance from Gareth Bale, who's superb delivery from crosses and set pieces should make a big difference to the side.
Interestingly, sources have been suggesting that we may well see Kevin Prince-Boateng on the subs bench this weekend. After a scintillating goal for the reserves against Derby in midweek, the German midfielder looks set to play some sort of part against Fulham in what may prove to be a bold move on Jol's part. Hopefully if Jenas is struggling to make an impact in a type of game that he notoriously struggles in, Boateng may well be the man to come on and shake things up.
Match prediction: 1-2 Tottenham The game will be a tight affair and I expect we will face a Fulham performance much improved from the one that capitulated against us in the cup last season. The midfield will be congested and Healy will be a threat but I expect that the Fulham back line will not have enough to contain our attacking options. One thing I would really like to see is Berbatov getting off the mark this season.