Marco Silva has urged Fulham’s board to back him in the summer transfer market as he looks to build on a fantastic first season back in the top flight.

The Portuguese head coach has steered one of the pre-season relegation favourites to mid-table safety long before the end of the season after winning Championship in his first term in charge at Craven Cottage – without comprising on his footballing philosophy. Silva, who has yet to agree a new contract with his current deal running only until the end of next season, wants chairman Shahid Khan and Fulham’s board to demonstrate the extent of their ambition in the next few months.

“My relationship with the owner is really good. He knows my opinions and what I want to do, as you cannot stand still. “In football, if you think it is OK, because we are having a very good season, that will be the first mistake. I don’t like to make mistakes when I am preparing.

In terms of preparation and planning we need to be ambitious because the Premier League demands that from you. We have to improve. If you think what we have is enough, it will not be. We are really pleased with our players. They have been doing so well. But we need to improve competition because the other clubs are doing that and we have to do our best to improve. It is going to be an important few months for us.”