Arbeloa on Sessegnon injury, being 'self-demanding' and Affengruber

Millie Sian - BBC Sport journalistMon, September 14, 2026 at 12:19 PM UTC

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Fulham boss Alvaro Arbeloa has been speaking to the media before Tuesday's Carabao Cup third-round fixture against West Ham United at London Stadium (kick-off 19:45 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

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Ryan Sessegnon is dealing with a "small groin problem", which explains his exclusion from the matchday squad last time out. The club are waiting on his scan results, but he won't be available for the cup tie, confirmed Arbeloa, and he will be assessed again before Sunday's game against Manchester United.

It was "important" for Fulham to claim their first Premier League point of the season against Liverpool, but "three points is always the goal".

However, he added: "In a situation where it wasn't easy for us, the players did what we worked on in training during the week and everything we worked on was almost perfect. We knew we needed to adjust the things that weren't going well, and I think we did that."

Fulham are still hunting for their first piece of major silverware and Arbeloa is hoping his "self-demanding" nature will take his side far in the domestic competitions this season.

For that reason, the Cottagers are approaching this fixture as a cup final: "We know in this case that if we don't win the game, we are out of the competition. We know it is a final for us. It is very important to beat them and go into the next round."

When asked about facing another one of his former clubs in West Ham United, he replied: "What a week this is for me!"

Nuno Espirito Santo's side are "performing so well" in the Championship this season, having suffered Premier League relegation last term, and Arbeloa insisted they will be "a difficult team" to beat away from home.

He added: "They have a Premier League level squad, so they aren't Championship opposition in my opinion. If we want to beat them, we will have to perform well."

After rotating 10 players for Fulham's second-round win over AFC Wimbledon, the Cottagers boss intends on bringing in some "fresh legs" and handing "opportunities" to those players who deserve it.

When asked about his influence in signing David Affengruber, who made his full debut at Anfield, he responded: "I already knew him very well. I talked about him with the club at the beginning of the summer, but they were looking at other players. They wanted someone who was of a similar profile to other Premier League centre-backs at first."

On the defender's strengths, he added: "He has that personality, he is so intelligent with the ball, he is strong, he has the pace and he understands the game very well. I believe he can play even better than he did."

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Source: “AOL Sports”