Marco Silva expects Bristol City to make things difficult for his Fulham side again tomorrow – a week after being eliminated from the FA Cup by the Whites after extra time.
The Robins travel to London encouraged by their disciplined showing in the Cup tie at Ashton Gate, which Nigel Pearson’s men were unlucky to lose, and they can draw strength from the fact that they haven’t lost at Craven Cottage since 1997. Silva told his pre-match press conference this afternoon:
They made it very difficult in the cup, they did the same in the first round [the reverse Championship fixture at Ashton Gate] as well. We lost two points against them in the first round. We drew that game and of course we wanted to win the game. We know that for us to win the game we have to have a good performance, we have to play well, we have to be always ready with a good commitment, good attitude.”
The Fulham coach believes spirit in the camp is high following the resounding win at Reading in midweek and feels that the Whites’ promotion hopes are in their own hands.
“We look always at ourselves. Of course at the end of the weekend we look at the table, I think that’s normal, but during the week, every single day my players know what we talk about. We talk about ourselves, ourselves and ourselves. Our focus is always on what we can do and what our strategy is for the next match.
We know we gave a very good first half of the season, we were stronger than a big part of our opponents, and we did really well. We want to do better, but if not we will at least try to do the same in the second half of the season. As I said, our full focus is on ourselves.”
