Scoring seven times away from home for the second time this season certainly lifted spirits among the Fulham fan base this week. The sensational display at Reading, combined with the side’s all-out-attack approach, emphasised the quality within the Londoners’ squad and their desire to make a dispirting December run something of a distant memory. You would have thought Marco Silva’s toughest job in the aftermath of that Reading rout would have been to keep feet firmly on the ground: but, in their different atfer mach interviews, both Harry Wilson and Fabio Carvalho attested to the fact that nothing was won yet and that Fulham want to be winning convincingly and topping the table.

A stern test of that rediscovered ruthlesness awaits in the shape of Bristol City tomorrow afernoon. Nigel Pearson’s men might be sitting fifteenth in the Championship table but they were unfortunate to be edged out of the FA Cup by Harry Wilson’s extra time fluke last week and they boast a sensational winning run at Craven Cottage that dates back to 1997. The Robins might have struggled for consistency this term but they showed plenty of heart in coming from behind to defeat Millwall last time out in the league – and Pearson has the prospect of reintegrating some of his more established names for this fixture.

Pearson will probably stick with a similar system to the 3-4-1-2 that he used last weekend – especially as variations on the formatio have posed particular problems for Fulham this season. He spoke during his pre-match press conference about how well the former Fulham centre backs Tomas Kalas and Rob Atkinson dealt with the attacking threats of Rodrigo Muniz and Aleksandar Mitrovic. The Robins have been trying to introduce a little more subtlety and creativity into their approach – something Kalas highlighted following the game last Saturday – and there are likely to be a couple of changes in terms of personnel. Andi Weimann, whose hat trick against Millwall took him to twelve goals for the season, is likely to return to the starting line-up and Matty James is pushing hard for a recall.

Fulham’s biggest task will be matching the intensity and quality of some of their sublime football from midweek. Reading were devoid of confidence and missing a shedload of key performers, but after a slow start this was one of Fulham’s most complete performances of he campaign. Silva spoke about the need for some of his fringe players to chip in more regularly with goals, but he is likely to resist any tinkering given how dominant the Whites were in Berkshire. Joe Bryan could have a chance of featuring against his old club, especially after Antonee Robinson almost gifted Reading an equaliser in the first half.

The goals of Harry Wilson and Mitrovic’s mangificent all-round play were striking in Berkshire, but the composition of the central midfield – with Jean-Michael Seri on AFCON duty – particularly intrigued me. Harrison Reed had a storming game in his more natural holding midfield role, with captain Tom Cairney able to dictate play impressively from a slightly more advanced position. Cairney’s fluent display would have encouraged Silva, who disclosed last week that he was gradually hoping for the skipper to deliver more consistency as he gets more minutes into his legs after such a prolonged injury lay-off.

Fulham’s threat out wide appears restored with Wilson looking dagerous almost every he advnced with the ball and Neeskens Kebano offering electricity on the opposition flank. As Silva opined this afternoon, the sort of regular service those to wingers can provide keeps Mitrovic – now on 24 league goals in 23 appearances – in tip-top form. The Serbian might still have some detractors in English football, but none of them are associated with Fulham Football Club. There seems an added string to his bow now, with several sublime passes cutting through the Royals on Wednesday, and there can be no doubt that he enjoys life in souh west Lodon.

MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Rodak; Tete, A. Robinson, Adarabioyo, Ream; Reed, Cairney; Wilson, Kebano, Carvalho; Mitrovic. Subs: Gazzaniga, Odoi, Hector, Chalobah, Onomah, Decordova-Reid, Muniz.