Marco Silva insists his Fulham side will have to ‘work hard’ to beat the bottom side Sheffield United in their Premier League clash tomorrow afternoon.

The Blades have only collected a single point from their first seven fixtures after winning promotion back to the top flight last season, but Silva knows Paul Heckingbottom’s men will be smarting from conceding ten goals in their last two outings – even if last week’s defeat at West Ham was far tighter than the 8-0 hammering handed out by Newcastle United a week earlier.

“We will have to work really hard to win the game. That’s the way that we have to think, is the way that our fans have to approach the game as well, and our players. We have to really respect Sheffield United, they want to really get a good result to achieve what they want from the match, and we want the same.

It’s always tough against Sheffield United, we know how they come here always with the two strikers, in any moment of the game ready to try to punish you. They have the capacity, even if you press them high, to go more direct for one of the target men, and after to explore in behind. They prepare well for second balls and they are always a threat in set-pieces as well. We have to be really focused on the game and, of course, put the game in the areas that we are strong, and to play in our way.

For sure, they want to react from the last ones, but we want the same, we want to react from the last match against Chelsea and we want to fight really hard for the three points, and we want to play better than the last one. We cannot repeat that first half. Second half was completely different against Chelsea but we have to really start different and be more consistent during the 90 minutes instead of just reacting second half, which is what we want to see tomorrow on the pitch.”