Spotlight falls on Philippe Senderos as Martin Jol wrestles with back problem

Senderos (above) has been desperate for a chance to kickstart his Fulham career after intermittent involvement since his arrival on a free transfer from Arsenal in 2010.

The 27-year-old ruptured his Achilles tendon that summer and had to wait 11 months to make his debut and after starting 29 matches in two years, Senderos suffered a foot injury that sidelined him until yesterday's introduction as Hangeland's replacement.

Senderos was an unused substitute in Fulham's previous five matches and it is clear he is short of match fitness. Steven Fletcher's opening goal came courtesy of a sublime first touch and finish from Adam Johnson's clever pass but Senderos was easily outwitted by the striker's movement.

After substitute Mladen Petric had given Fulham the parity their endeavour deserved, Carlos Cuellar was left totally unmarked to head home Johnson's 65th minute corner before Stephane Sessegnon struck a superb swerving third.

It is of course unfair to overtly chastise a team for absent-minded defending when they are chasing the game with a numerical disadvantage but nevertheless there must be a sense of trepidation about Fulham's rearguard without Hangeland.

Jol could select Chris Baird, who served a one-match suspension yesterday, at centre-back but the Northern Ireland international has been successfully reinvented as a midfielder and is particularly important in that position with Mahamadou Diarra an ongoing fitness doubt with a knee injury.

Senderos is therefore the most likely candidate, although Jol opted not to publicise his thinking. "Losing Hangeland is a big blow," he said. "I think it will be three games. We will come up with something.

"He apologised [to the referee] because he's a nice boy. But he confirmed it wasn't intentional and that he slipped. It's not a common thing for him. I've not seen him do that. It's probably deserved we're always [doing well] in the Fair Play League, as a result, if you've got players apologising for that."

Future Fulham absentees are not just confined to defence. Bryan Ruiz and Alex Kacaniklic were both forced off yesterday with hamstring problems that Jol claim will rule the pair out for "at least" three weeks.

Their attacking fluency with ten men in defiance of those enforced changes bodes well for the future. Dimitar Berbatov was unfortunate not to cap an inventive performance with a goal, while Petric caused Sunderland a host of problems when the game became stretched.

"Maybe we should have scored once or twice and had the cushion to hold," said Jol. "But even after the sending off I thought we did okay, and still thought we might score one or two.

"To play with 10 against 11 and take the initiative is not easy. After that our shape was gone. We still could have scored three. The third goal was the killer goal."

However, Fulham's ability to remain competitive was also due to the visitors' lack of confidence and conviction despite having an extra man for an hour. Four of Sunderland's next five games are at home with Martin O'Neill confident his team can kick on after a subdued start.

Fulham began the campaign in much better health but now Senderos will need to silence the doubters if that is to continue.