GARY O’Neil believes Fulham will not look too different when they visit the Vitality Stadium this weekend, even if they are without their talismanic striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.

The Serbian was dismissed in the Cottagers’ most recent game, a defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup, for his shove on match official Chris Kavanagh following a red card shown to teammate Willian.

Manager Marco Silva was also handed his marching orders in what could be described as a Fulham meltdown, although the Portuguese boss will be on the touchline this weekend as he awaits the outcome of a personal appeal.

Whilst Mitrovic is yet to receive his own ban, it is expected that the FA will hand a lengthy suspension to their forward.

Asked if he thought Fulham had the ability to mix things up in the absence of Mitrovic, O’Neil replied: “Can do. It depends who they use.

“If Vinícius plays, it's similar, but they have used other people up there as sort of a false nine at times and it changes them slightly.

“They're a real sort of settled club, Fulham have had a similar style, similar way of playing for a very long time, even before the current manager.

“He has improved it and pushed it on.

“But the group are very familiar with how they play and you can see that they understand it very well.

“So, it never changes too much, but that doesn't mean that it's easy to stop.

"Obviously, they're missing Willian and Mitrovic.

"They've got a fantastic squad. They added well in the summer to what was already a strong group.

“They'll replace those two with very good footballers.

“They're a very strong team.

“I think Vinícius comes in, or whether they decide to use somebody else as the nine will still be a real threat.”

After winning the Championship ahead of Cherries last season, Fulham have thrived on their return to the top-flight. They are ninth with 39 points from 27 games, placing them in touching distance of European qualification.

“They've had a fantastic season,” restarted O’Neil.

“Marco has done an incredible job.

“Team coming up from the Championship, to be as far up the league as they are and competing for European places is a real achievement.

“So it'll be a tough test for us, definitely.

“They're a big threat from crosses, from set plays.

“Good side, but they come here to our place in a home game that is big for us, and I'm sure we'll be able to feel that tomorrow once we get underway."