Fulham’s unexpected morphing from shot-shy strugglers into clinical goalscorers hit the buffers at St. James’ Park on Saturday afternoon. A leggy Newcastle United got an early Christmas present when Raul Jimenez’s ridiculously reckless challenge saw Marco Silva’s side reduced to ten men after twenty minutes and the Whites’ dogged defence eventually cracked in the second half. Infuriating as it was, there’s no shame in being beaten by Eddie Howe’s Magpies, especially when they held a numerical advantage. Fulham are still in a far stronger position than a couple of weeks ago by virtue of the terrific twin thrashings meted out to Nottingham Forest and West Ham – and that mid-table comfort should allow Silva the ability to have a real crack at the League Cup quarter-final this evening.

A return to Goodison Park, where the Portuguese coach felt he was harshly sacked four years ago, presents another opportunity for this side to make history. Fulham have never reached the last four of this competition, despite playing in six quarter-final ties. The most recent failure was nineteen years ago against Chelsea when Chris Coleman’s side took their local rivals – who had won the derby 4-1 only a few weeks earlier – deep into extra time only for a deflected Frank Lampard strike to cruelly settle matters. That pain pales into insignificance when you consider the missed opportunity that was Filbert Street in 2000: Paul Bracewell’s side were two goals to the good when he took off Paul Peschisolido with twenty minutes to play. Leicester came roaring back both in normal time and in the extra thirty minutes, before the Whites missed all of their penalties.

Silva’s reign has already reset Fulham’s playing philosophy – introducing a sense of adventure that felt liberating after Scott Parker’s sterile approach – and the club’s ambitions. The exhilarating way in which his stylish side stormed to promotion by winning the Championship in his first season was thing, but Fulham broke the yo-yo cycle by taking the attack to the Premier League. They didn’t scratch and claw their way to survival either, surprising everyone to finish tenth last term whilst reaching the last eight of the FA Cup. How they exited the world’s oldest club cup competition at Old Trafford still rankles – three red cards in a minute turning a 1-0 lead into a comfortable win for Manchester United – and Silva says he has made his players analyse that failure in the build-up to this game.

The Fulham boss has sought consistency from his side, whose last away win came on the opening day at Everton, and picked an unchanged eleven for those back-to-back 5-0 wins that lifted the gloom around Craven Cottage. Fulham’s fluid football has been boosted by the return of captain Tom Cairney alongside Joao Palhinha in central midfield, whilst the introduction of former Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi as a winger has added invention out wide. Silva will definitely be without Raul tonight as the Mexican striker starts a three-match ban following his moment of madness on Tyneside and the puzzler will be who to start up front. Carlos Vinicius has the better pedigree, but Rodrigo Muniz delivered an excellent hold-up display against Manchester United last month before an untimely knee injury intervened. Fulham prospered utilising a false nine against Everton last April: could Bobby De Cordova-Reid, the scorer of the only goal at Goodison in August, be an option in that role?

The Toffees are a team transformed from the early weeks of the season. It isn’t just that Sean Dyche’s methods are now bearing fruit or even that the siege mentality following that Premier League points deduction has fired everyone connected with the club up. Everton could have won the opening day fixture between the sides convincingly if they had a finisher on the field and, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin back up front, Fulham will need to be much tighter at the back. The talented Jared Branthwaite has added composure to Dyche’s defence and should return to the starting line-up having been banned for Saturday’s win at Burnley – Everton’s fourth in a row – like midfielder Idrissa Gueye. Vitaliy Mykolenko could come back in at left back, but the imposing Abdoulaye Doucoure, a Silva signing from his time on Merseyside, will have a fitness test after coming off at Turf Moof with a groin complaint.

Can Fulham bounce back from the disappointment of a self-inflicted defeat at St. James’ Park? They will need to match the intensity of their in-form opponents and find a way of quietening a fervent home support. Silva says the Whites have both ‘the desire and ambition’ to reach the semi-finals: it is time for his players to prove it.

MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson, Diop, Bassey; Palhinha, Cairney; Willian, Iwobi, Pereira; Vinicius. Subs: Rodak, Castagne, Adarabioyo, Reed, Lukic, Wilson, De Cordova-Reid, Harris, Muniz.