Fulham boss Rene Meulensteen explained leaving Dimitar Berbatov out for defeat to Manchester City.
Berbatov suffered a groin problem on Friday, and Meulensteen admitted he chose not to risk the Bulgaria striker with the busy festive schedule in mind.
Meulensteen said: "Unfortunately he kicked a ball wrongly in training which aggravated something in his groin as far as I'm aware.
"So we had a good look at it, we assessed him, and actually assessed him this morning as well.
"And unfortunately he was too big of a risk. With all the games coming up I didn't want to take the risk of having to start Berbatov in that position and maybe him have to come off and then you lose him for the other games."
