After a superb season of sublime football on the front, Fulham are stumbling their way to the finish line. No sooner had Marco Silva’s side secured an immediate return to the Premier League, then they let slip the style that supplied such a commanding position at the top of the Championship. A deflating draw at Bournemouth – where the Whites paid the penalty for a lazy late lunge by Harry Wilson – was followed by a frustrating defeat at the hands of in-form Nottingham Forest and the title, which once looked a formality, remains up for grabs in the final week of the season. Fulham fans would have taken this luxurious position back in August, but the anxiety levels appear to be in overdrive ahead of the Bank Holiday Monday meeting with Luton Town at Craven Cottage.

It is hard to put your finger on the precise reason why the standards of Silva’s side have slipped. It could be complacency, something which every manager rails against, but is entirely understandable after you have strolled to the top of the table. It might be fatigue – after a long hard campaign that has seen the new head coach largely refuse to rotate his side – or the fact that the opposition have been able to work out where Fulham are vulnerable. Silva’s hunger for silverware remains insatiable and the ill-timed drop off in form could prove costly for a number of players on the fringes of Fulham’s starting eleven.

The Hatters head to the capital in good heart and firmly in the promotion picture themselves. Luton, brilliantly led by Nathan Jones – who deservedly clinched the Championship manager of the year at last week’s EFL awards ceremony – have surprised everyone by making light of their unfashionable stature and comparatively tiny wage bill to retain their top six place ahead of plenty established names, having won fourteen of their last 24 games to climb from fourteenth to fifth. Three points at the Cottage would extend their season into the play-offs, whilst a repeat of the 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road – where former Fulham forward Elijah Adebayo found the net – would probably do if paired with a point on the final day.

Luton’s exploits are all the remarkable when you consider that Jones is juggling his resources with his meagre first-team squad ravaged by one of the country’s most severe injury crisis. The loss of James Shea for the season meant Harry Istead, who made his debut in the 1-1 draw against Blackpool, was the Hatters’ only senior goalkeeper. Luton signed Hull keeper Matt Ingram on an emergency loan last night, but their problems don’t end with a lack of experienced back-in in goal. James Bree and inspirational centre back Sonny Bradley have been laid low by ankle problems and Adebayo may miss out on a return to SW6 after suffering a hamstring injury against Blackpool. Jones has also been without Fred Onyedinma, Reece Burke, Luke Berry and Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu for good measure as well.

Jones, swiftly forgiven for leaving Kenilworth Road having been seduced by the bright lights of Stoke City, has largely stuck to a successful 3-4-1-2 system with Adebayo, much more than a typical target man, usually paired with the underrated Harry Cornick. Movement from a lively midfield, where Allan Campbell has quietly become influential following a summer Bosman move from Scotland, and the width of adventurous wing-backs is crucial, but nobody shirks from the responsibility of covering the ground when the Hatters lose the ball. A collective work ethic and a clear system that means understudies know exactly how to fulfil their roles has gone a long way – and Luton’s story certainly isn’t finished just yet.

Fulham struggled to deal both with Luton’s press and their deliveries from set plays in the reverse fixture and Silva’s side will need to be decidedly better than in their last two outings if they are not to have to face up to the possibility of the Championship trophy slipping out of their hands and into the grasp of Scott Parker. The Fulham boss might have a fully fit squad to choose from, but there are concerns about the long-term prognosis for Antonee Robinson, with the American rumoured to be set for a summer operation to tackle a worrying knee injury. The mindset, intensity and combinations have all gone awry in recent weeks – and a single-minded winner like Silva will have been bitterly disappointed by that.

He might consider a couple of switches to get his charges back to winning ways. Nobody can decry just how hard Bobby Decordova-Reid works and his versatility was a real asset in Parker’s defensively-minded outfit last season, but the contrast between the Jamaican international and Neeskens Kebano, who has put together easily his consistent campaign since moving to England six years ago, is stark. The Congolese winger is a far more direct threat to opposing full backs and must be restored to the starting line up. Fulham will be looking for more from Wilson on the opposite flank – and there will be questions asked about whether Neco Williams should come back in at right back.

The balance of Fulham’s midfield still seems a little off kilter. Harrison Reed isn’t the attacking midfielder than Silva appears intent on turning him into and the combination play between Fulham’s premier holding man and Jean Michael Seri would be much more successful if their roles were switched. Tom Cairney’s class at this level is unquestionable, but he is still managing his workload after a succession of injuries, and sometimes isn’t as effective off the bench as he is having started. There are plenty of ponderables as Silva surveys the Premier League and considers the need for swift summer recruitment, but the stresses and strains of the transfer market – with survival as the goal – can be set aside until Fulham lift the second tier trophy.

As Silva himself referenced in Friday’s press conference, Fulham is a club steeped in history, but they don’t have a history of winning very much. A league title would be a magnificent achievement and the Whites need to stop resting on their laurels.

MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Rodak; N. Williams, Bryan, Adarabioyo, Ream; Reed, Cairney; Wilson, Kebano, Carvalho; Mitrovic. Subs: Gazzaniga, Tete, Hector, Chalobah, Seri, Decordova-Reid, Muniz.