Litmanen has yet to play for the Cottagers since his arrival in January as a series of injuries and heart palpitations rendered him unavailable.

Boss Roy Hodgson had hoped he would participate in Fulham's battle against relegation but has been forced to shelve those plans following an incident involving reserve goalkeeper Ricardo Batista.

"Litmanen is the most unlucky fellow I have come across in football," said Hodgson.

"He was training on Monday and due to play a practice match the next day when Batista, who I must say is a very fearsome kicker of the ball, managed to smash it into the back of his head from about four yards.

"It was like a missile, knocking him over and putting him out for the week. It's not a long-term thing but it's knocked him for six."

Former Finland coach Hodgson added: "Jari has been very unfortunate.

"When I first went to the Finnish FA he was standing next to his sporting director at Malmo who opened a can of coke and the top popped into Jari's eye."

Litmanen's latest setback will have stunned Fulham fans who have been left to rue one of the worst signings in Barclays Premier League history.

The 37-year-old has played twice for Finland since arriving at Craven Cottage yet has made no contribution to his club, despite being on £15,000 a week.

Hodgson needs all his resources available to him as Fulham launch their last-ditch attempt to escape relegation at Manchester City tomorrow.

They are five points adrift of safety with three games left and defeat by Sven-Goran Eriksson's side would push them to the brink of the Coca Cola Championship.

Hodgson has overseen Fulham's survival bid since late December and admits failure would sit heavily on his shoulders.

"It would be a major disappointment if we were to go down," he said.

"But I'm not sure if it would be the biggest disappointment - losing the UEFA Cup final on penalties with Inter Milan in 1997 is going to take a little bit of beating.

"I've had a short, intensive spell here. It will be a major disappointment if we go down but I don't know if it will be the worst in a 32-year career.

"I didn't come to see the team go down, so it would be a big blow to me. I don't think the team has done that badly over the last four months.

"We've had bad luck at times but I think the club has great potential and if we survive in the Premiership we'll definitely be stronger next season."

Relegation would inevitably cause upheaval at Craven Cottage but Hodgson has banned any discussion of the players' futures.

"I can't start talking with individuals what will happen if we go down - not with two games left to go," he said.

Antti Niemi is fit but Hodgson is set to continue with Kasey Keller in goal, despite the American's two costly blunders in Saturday's 2-0 defeat by Liverpool.

ends