Hayles fights for his future

The Lambeth-born striker, who was Fulham's top scorer last season with 12 goals, does not want to go but the chance to join a team who really want him must be becoming an attractive option.

Hayles said: "The club has never actually told me they want to sell me and I think I am a Premier League striker but maybe some other people don't. It is frustrating because I would like to be a Fulham player for plenty of years to come and it hurts when you hear that you might be up for sale. It is not the first time it has happened and I cannot say that it does not affect me at all. It gets me down for a while but then I start to want to fight back. The way I came into football, I am used to getting up and doing it all again."

Hayles' attitude derives from his late entry into the professional game. He was not good enough to follow the conventional route from teenage trainee to first-team squad and only joined his first club, Bristol Rovers, five years ago.

Not long before he played for non-league Stevenage and was a carpenter, so having his ability doubted is not new.

More recently, when Tigana first became Fulham manager two years ago, Hayles thought his days at the club were numbered. The Frenchman gave him a chance then and was repaid as his team won the First Division and Hayles struck a potent goalscoring partnership with Louis Saha.

But last season it was a different story and as the team's goals largely dried-up Tigana became increasingly determined to bring in a big front man.

He is still looking but after the club made losses of £24m in the year to the end of last June it seems a couple of players will have to be sacrificed first.

Hayles and midfielder Eddie Lewis are the most likely candidates but the striker is not quite ready to give in. He said: "It would be nice to be accepted as a Premiership striker and I don't know why I am not. I am the sort of player who does things offthecuff and maybe that is not what some people want.

"But if I can score a goal or two against Bologna it cannot do my case any harm at all. It could be another chance to prove myself."

At the very least, Hayles knows he is in the shop window tonight. He came on as a substitute against French side Sochaux last week and scored one of the goals which secured a 3-0 aggregate win and a place in the final.

But tonight's match is not only important to the striker. A place in the UEFA Cup awaits the winner of the two-legged final and victory for Tigana may help to make his future a little more secure despite the presence of Franco Baresi at the club as adviser to chairman Mohamed Fayed.

Defender Steve Finnan will miss the game with flu and full-back Pierre Wome, who signed from opponents Bologna at the weekend, is unavailable.