Fulham boss Martin Jol plays down Bobby Zamora rift talk

Fulham manager Martin Jol has played down talk of a rift with Bobby Zamora.

The 30-year-old striker has been the subject of transfer speculation in recent weeks and was omitted from Jol's squad for Saturday's defeat at Swansea.

"I don't think there is any problem," said Jol. "I think the grass is always greener on the other side but it is not only for him.

"I said to him a few weeks ago 'do you love this club?' and he said 'yes, I love this club, I love this team'."

Zamora will return to the Fulham squad for Wednesday's Europa League match against Odense and Jol says any talk of a disagreement between him and the England international has been inflated by the press.

"If you look at the media, they started this Bobby thing in August," said Jol.

"They said we had a bust up at the start of the season, but you always have a little bit of a disagreement."

Zamora, who joined Fulham from West Ham in 2008, has scored five goals in 23 appearances for the Cottagers this season.

Jol continued: "There are always players in a squad of 24 or 25 that look at other clubs, but this is a great club.

"There is not one player that has told me he does not want to play for this squad.

"I wanted a good atmosphere and a good team that pushes each other so I thought last weekend it was time for Andy Johnson to play because he has scored goals.

"He had good games and worked hard in training so that was the motivation."

Fulham will progress to the knockout stages of the Europa League with victory over Danish side Odense.

Zamora is likely to come in for the suspended Johnson and Jol will also be without Bryan Ruiz, Danny Murphy and Steve Sidwell.

But the Cottagers are boosted by the return of Damien Duff and Chris Baird, although goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer faces a fitness test.

"He [Schwarzer] has a problem with his spine because he had that fall at Swansea but we will make a decision today," Jol said. "I think he has a great chance to play.

"I will play different players because I think I need to, but we still have a strong team - we have to do everything tomorrow to win."