Marco Silva hailed the enduring excellence of his captain Tom Cairney after the midfielder turned in a superb display on his first Premier League start since September.

Cairney was a surprise inclusion in Fulham’s starting line-up but dictated the play effortlessly from central midfield and won a match-turning tackle on his old team-mate Mario Lemina sparking the move that led to the vital stoppage-time penalty that ensured the Whites ended a run of four league fixtures without a win.

Silva saluted the Scottish international’s influence during his post-match press conference last night:

“[It was a] very good performance, a very good performance. I think he was the best player on the pitch, and he deserves it. It was a very good performance tonight. He started because he’s showing to me in the training sessions that he deserves the chance and deserves the moment to start.

It was a game that I knew that we are going to need more calm, because we are not in a moment full of confidence. We are going to need more calm on the ball, and I know what Tom Cairney can give us in these type of moments. When you play with Willian, Alex, Andreas Pereira and Tom Cairney behind the striker, it was clear what we wanted for the game. I knew that we were going to have ball, and I wanted much better decisions, because I knew that it’s going to be important for us to have some control. We did better second half, and Tom Cairney was a really important piece in that.”