Fulham head coach Marco Silva insists his side ‘don’t fear anyone’ as he prepares to take the Whites to Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.
Silva’s charges should be full of confidence ahead of the televised tie as the Theatre of Dreams after recording three consecutive Premier League victories for the first time since 2008. He told his pre-match press conference at Motspur Park this afternoon:
“”It doesn’t matter who we play, we take the competition seriously. We love the competition. Our ambition is really big, we want to compete to be in the next round. We don’t feel intimidation in any stadium in this country.
We have changed the mentality. and the approach. Intimidation is not a word we even think about. I am now naive, we are not the favourites to win this competition, but we have to go game by game and step by step. “I am really positive about what we will be able to do in the game. I am really positive about how we bounced back from the Palace game. Our away form as been really good, just shows how competitive we can be. We don’t fear anyone.”
Silva also confirmed that Emile Smith Rowe has returned to training having missed the 2-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday – but a decision will be made on the England international’s fitness following a training session tomorrow.
The Fulham boss also insisted he would not be targeting revenge for Fulham’s FA Cup exit at United in the quarter finals two years ago.
“No regrets, no revenge about that game. The way we performed, was at a very good level. We can’t change it, it doesn’t make sense to talk about that game, so many games have happened since.”
