Whilst good teams never know when they are beaten, once you get out of the winning habit it can be difficult to get over the finishing line. Yesterday’s surrender from 2-0 up at a bedraggled Burnley was particularly Fulhamish. Marco Silva’s side were in total control until conceding a sloppy goal twenty minutes from time which turned a routine away win into edge of your seat stuff. Given Fulham’s wretched record at Turf Moor, there was inevitability about Burnley’s stoppage-time equaliser – scrambled in by super-sub David Datro Fofana – that made extended the Whites’ winless run to six matches in all competitions.

That Fulham allowed Vincent Kompany’s side back into the contest was unforgivable. It is supremely ironic that until the 71st minute there was much to like about this performance. Silva reintroduced Harrison Reed into the midfield – a move that meant the engine room had a bit more bite about it – and his other big call, picking Rodrigo Muniz ahead of Armando Broja up front, paid of handsomely when the Brazilian bagged his first Premier League goal. The defence coped well with the absence of Issa Diop until an aberration from Bernd Leno, with the home side hardly threatening. It made the dropping of two precious points all the more galling.

The sight of Tosin Adarabioyo hobbling off holding his hamstring made a maddening ending much worse. As it stands, Tim Ream – badly beaten to the ball for Burnley’s equaliser – will be Silva’s only fit senior centre half for the visit of Bournemouth to Craven Cottage next weekend. That could prompt a first Premier League start for Luc de Fougerolles, who was on the bench in Lancashire, the redeploying of Joao Palhinha in central defence, where he has played for Portugal, or some other tactical tweak that doesn’t immediately occur to me. Whatever the resolution, it isn’t a good situation to be in.

Silva’s squad is small enough at the moment after Fulham failed to strengthen significantly in the summer or add bodies during the January transfer window. The lack of options at his disposal were evident with so many youth prospects on the bench yesterday. We’ve been fortunate to see a bit of de Fougerolles, who shone on his first taste of first-team action in the Summer Series in America, and certainly didn’t look out of place against high-flying Ipswich in the League Cup earlier this season. But glimpses of Josh King, a dynamic teenage central midfielder, and the talented former Juventus youngster Kristian Sekularac have been the preserve of those fans fortunate to catch a fair bit of the academy sides down at Motspur Park. The lack of depth in the squad has undermined Silva’s side already this season and, as he hinted after the final whistle, might yet do some again.

I’ve made the point before that the age profile of the first team squad will need looking at as early as the summer. Several stalwarts of this side are now well past thirty. Ream is 36, Willian 35, Tom Cairney is now 32 – the same age as Raul Jimenez – and Bobby De Cordova-Reid turned 31 last week. Fulham already have the oldest squad in the top flight and, whilst you can see the logic in adding experience to a squad that had been battered by regular regulations from the top tier, there must be a better option that putting your faith in veterans and flooding the bench with callow youngsters.

The optimism of early January, when the Whites could justifiably look up the table after a thrilling victory over Arsenal whilst anticipating the League Cup semi-final against Liverpool, has given way to the realisation that the remainder of the campaign will be a grind towards the elusive 38 point mark. Fulham should have enough to limp towards safety – but Silva will have to do so whilst making the most of meagre resources. It’s hardly what he signed up when extending his contract in October.