Fulham boss Roy Hodgson is confident £11 million signing Andy Johnson will soon be available.

"Andy's injury has improved immensely and he's quite close to full fitness. Clinically he's very close," said Hodgson.

"Due to the transfer taking a long time and Everton not using him in pre-season out of fear he might become injured, he hasn't had much chance to get match fit.

"The chances are that we will use the three week period we have between Arsenal and Bolton to make sure we get him in tip top condition.

"I'm very concerned that the season has just begun and there are 38 matches to be played.

"It's important for me to have Andy up, running and fit for most of those matches.

"I don't want to throw him in early because it's the tempting thing to do.

"As often happens with these type of injuries, the player gets back and there's a slight recurrence and he misses another couple of weeks.

"The season becomes very bitty and that would be a major error for the player and the club."