Fulham’s club-record signing Kevin is set to spend several weeks on the sidelines with a foot injury.
The Brazilian winger, 23, joined Fulham from Shakhtar Donetsk late in the summer transfer window but has struggled to bed in.
He did not find the back of the net for the Cottagers until January, since taking his tally for the season to eight goals and five assists in 33 appearances.
And his frustrating debut season in west London is only set to get worse, as Fulham boss Marco Silva has confirmed may be forced under the knife to correct a foot injury sustained in last week’s defeat of Sunderland.
“Kevin is the only player who will not be in contention [to face Tottenham on Sunday],” said Silva, asked for an update on the state of his squad.
“We’re are waiting (to find out more), but he's probably going to have surgery and will be out for some weeks.
“It’s a big blow for us, and for him personally. We’re here to support him.”
On other team news, Silva added: “Saša (Lukić), (Samuel) Chukwueze and the others have been in and out of contention, but they’ve had a good week. (Antonee) Robinson is back in sessions with the team.
“We another session [before the match] and we're going to make a decision after that.”
It is not yet clear exactly how long Kevin will remain sidelined. At the very least, he will not be involved as Igor Tudor’s crisis-stricken Tottenham visit Craven Cottage on Sunday.
Spurs sit just four points above the relegation zone, and have plenty of injury worries of their own.
Fulham have not tasted defeat in any of their last four meetings with their north London rivals, and have won their last three meetings with Spurs at the Cottage.
Silva said he is keen to extend that form, but that he is wary of underestimating Tudor’s side.
He continued: “We have to prove it again. The last two home games [against Spurs], the result went our way. The last away game we won, the second to last away game we drew.
“Okay, the last four, I think we won three and drew one, if I’m not wrong. But now it’s another one, and we have to prove our quality again, what we are capable to do.
“I know that the position they are in is below their standards, this season has not been the best, but I have enough experience and maturity to know that sometimes it’s so tricky to have these types of games, that you can’t underestimate a group of players and a club that wants to react.
“And let’s hope we don’t give them a good day for them to react, and we can be at our best level, because we need our best level.”
