Marco Silva praised the emergence of Tyrese Francois in his short time at the club after the Australian midfielder shone in Fulham’s win over Charlton Athletic this afternoon.

The new Fulham head coach admitted he had no hesitation in offering the 20 year-old a starting spot in central midfield in the club’s final pre-season friendly following his strong showings in training. Francois made the only goal for Fabio Carvalho with a terrific pass that cut open the Charlton back line and Silva insists he is in with a good chance of starting Fulham’s Championship campaign.

The Portuguese head coach told FFCTV: “Fabio played some Premier League games last season. Maybe many people expect to see Fabio playing well and doing well and not Francois, but Francois is doing really well. Every single day he is improving. He is getting his chances, getting more minutes in his legs, and he had a very good game this afternoon. They did well, and not just today to be honest.

“For me it’s the same if you are eighteen, nineteen or thirty. You get the chance and they got it and they are doing well. Fabio is a good example, and Francois as well. The goal we scored was a good example of the moves that we asked them to do [in training] and they did. It gives confidence to our players and they are doing their best.”