After the pain of Anfield, came the pride at a courageous Fulham performance. But as Alex Iwobi so eloquently put it in the immediate aftermath, the Premier League don’t award points for plaudits. Marco Silva’s sense of adventure appears ingrained in this side now – the Whites were unwilling to put men behind the ball even when it might have been for the best and paid the penalty for switching off defensively twice in 76 seconds. It was a lesson in the harsh realities of top flight football, akin to the one Luton Town were dealt by Declan Rice at the death last night.

Silva stressed the need for his side to become more consistent yesterday afternoon as he looked forward to a swift opportunity to return to winning ways against Nottingham Forest. Fulham have oscillated between home win and home defeat since the start of this season, whilst performances wherever they have played have been patchy at best. Some of that is understandable: not only have teams worked out how the Whites play, Silva has been unable to pick the same side for much of the campaign. But picking up wins is essential to avoid looking over your shoulder at the relegation zone, even if the fear of the drop has diminished after the Premier League deducted ten points from Everton.

A point and a place is all that separates Fulham from Forest, but the visitors have lost their last three games with whispers about Steve Cooper’s future starting to be heard once again. The idea that the Welshman, quietly one of the most cerebral coaches in the domestic game, is under pressure would seem preposterous but conventional thinking doesn’t appear to enter the mind of Evangelos Marinakis, who was recently summoned by the Greek Supreme Court to testify to his assertion that ‘Greek football is run by a criminal ring’. The Forest chairman, whose time as owner of Olympiacos has certainly not been short on controversy, assured Cooper that his job was safe for now after an abject defeat at the hands of Everton – but both men will want to see an improvement.

That makes Forest dangerous opposition tonight. They showed their potential in an impressive start to the season after surprising everyone outside of Nottingham by avoiding the drop with relative ease in their first top-flight campaign for 23 years. Cooper’s charges defeated Sheffield United and Chelsea before pushing Arsenal and Manchester United all the way and beat the oft-admired Aston Villa 2-0 – and they certainly haven’t been outclassed in three narrow defeats recently. They lost enthralling encounters by the odd goal in five to Brighton and Hove Albion and West Ham before the underwhelming home loss against Everton.

Cooper is confident his side can recover but the precise make-up of his line-up will only become clear after fitness tests for several injury doubts. These include evergreen New Zealand international Chris Wood as well as crucial centre halves Willy Boly and Murillo. All three sustained injuries in the Everton defeat and their participation at Craven Cottage is rated as 50-50, whilst dynamic midfielder Danilo, absent at the weekend after illness, is also being assessed to ascertain his availability. There is no doubt that Forest’s potency in the final third has been undermined by the absence of Taiwo Awoniyi, who has scored fifteen goals in 39 games after arriving from Union Berlin, after the Nigerian international underwent groin surgery and the departure for Tottenham of Welsh winger Brennan Johnson.

Silva has his own selection dilemmas with Fulham’s injury picture remaining the same as Issa Diop, Adama Traore, Rodrigo Muniz and Tyrese Francois remain unavailable. Kenny Tete acquitted himself well after two and a half months out at Anfield, even if demotion to the bench was harsh on Timothy Castagne. Antonee Robinson put in the performance of his life at left back, although the American is now one booking away from a ban, whilst the Fulham boss is likely to stick with Calvin Bassey and Tim Ream in the centre of defence despite the return to fitness of Tosin Adarabioyo. Tom Cairney’s absence from the starting line-up on Merseyside after inspiring the crucial win over Wolves was probably with this fixture in mind and the boyhood Forest fan will be desperate to make an impression tonight.

The Fulham head coach could consider Sunday’s selection of Harry Wilson vindicated by the Welsh international’s equaliser in front of the Kop, but Willian – scorer of that stunning goal against Forest last season – must come into contention this evening. Alex Iwobi has proven his versatility by shining in a wide position in his last two outings having previously added some flair to what had become something of a flat engine room, whilst Raul Jimenez’s encouraging display against Liverpool must rank as his strongest in a Fulham shirt. Plenty to ponder for Silva but, fitness permitting, there’s a strong case against wholesale changes in that quest for consistency.

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