Marco Silva hailed Josh King as ‘a top player’ after the teenager delivered a dominant display during Fulham’s dramatic 1-1 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion yesterday.

The eighteen year-old, who signed a four-year deal to stay at Craven Cottage earlier this summer, despite interest from other Premier League clubs as well as European suitors, was the visitors’ most frequent threat in the final third with his purposeful running and intelligent use of the ball. A delighted Fulham head coach told his post-match press conference at the AMEX:

“Very good performance, very good performance. He did really well. [Carlos] Baleba understood his moves a bit better, and went stronger on him. These types of games and the attention he gets from the players around him is going to help him improve. He’s a top player and I didn’t have any reservations to start him. He started the game because he deserved it. He had a very good pre-season and, for me, it doesn’t matter if he’s 18 or 34 or 35 – if he deserves to play, he’s going to start the game.

Silva was also pleased with the contribution of Emile Smith Rowe, who replaced King for the final thirteen minutes, and hinted that the pair will play in the same starting line-up soon.

“Emile Smith Rowe is fully fit, he’s working hard, he had a good pre-season. He can arrive in good positions. He’s going to help the team a lot, he’s ready. I’m going to push Emile more and more this season. He had a good pre-season. We are going to find a way to get both Emile and Josh in the same eleven. Josh started because he had a great pre-season. It was tactical [to leave out Smith Rowe and Andreas Pereira, who was an unused substitute”.