Fulham head coach Marco Silva said the difference in depth between his threadbare squad and Aston Villa’s was clear as the Whites were well beaten in Orlando this morning.

Silva’s side largely held their own in the first half, trailing to a close-range opener from Jaden Philogene, but Umai Emery’s ability to bring on big money signings such as Moussa Diaby off the bench meant that Villa could have won by a far greater margin – even though his determined side fought until the end.

“I think we started the game well, controlling well the moments on the ball. In two moments we lost the focus and the timing to press, when they had the penalty. Straight away after the penalty they created a chance and they scored. Second half was different. When you have a team that can change seven, eight players and put fresh players [in] at the same level, same quality, of course it will have an impact on the game. That was clear.

We wanted to manage the physical condition of our players, unfortunately we are really short in numbers and don’t have senior players on the bench. Just Willian came on second half, all the other players were our Under-21s, and the level and the quality is completely different. For them, getting the experience at this level, everything is new. Even so, I think they showed personality, they showed character as well.