Fulham travel to the City Ground to take on Nottingham Forest on Tuesday hoping to banish the defensive mistakes from Saturday’s epic against Sheffield United but retain the fighting spirit that saw them battle back from 3-1 down to earn a point at Bramall Lane. The Whites looked dead and buried with five minutes to go in south Yorkshire but earned a point after late goals from substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid and a stunning scissor kick from Rodrigo Muniz, who had shaken off a troublesome ankle injury to continue his fine form up front.

Both Silva and De Cordova-Reid bemoaned the fact that Fulham had found themselves with a two-goal deficit to overturn against the league’s bottom side – but Fulham only had themselves to blame for being in a position that De Cordova-Reid decried as unacceptable. The Jamaican international finished his post-match media commitments by insisting that his team-mates will need to put that right at Forest – and perhaps the swift turnaround will be of benefit to the Cottagers, who still need to stitch together results away from home if they are to fulfil Silva’s ambitions of bettering last season’s top half finish.

Silva told his pre-match press conference that he feels his side are much stronger than when they beat Forest 5-0 at Craven Cottage – even if his side having found the consistency he craves to take Fulham to the next level. He should benefit from having a fully fit squad for the run-in, even if there might be a few calls to change things up after Fulham failed to take all three points from Yorkshire on Saturday. Tom Cairney and De Cordova-Reid changed the game when they came off the bench at Bramall Lane – and both will be chomping at the bit to get another opportunity in the starting line-up. Cairney, a boyhood Forest fan, will have particular motivation to shine and if Silva wants to dominate possession his precise passing and clever manipulation of the ball could be very useful.

Forest will be fired up to add more points to their tally, especially after their points deduction for breaches of PSR, but they have struggled since the turn of the year. Nuno Espirito Santo made a strong start after replacing the popular Steve Cooper in the City Ground dugout – but they have won just once in their last ten games and could use a win to lever themselves out of what has become something of a scrappy relegation dogfight.

The home side will be without the services of striker Taiwo Awoniyi. who was so crucial to their survival last season, although Nuno is hopeful that he will be able to make a contribution during the run-in. Veteran Chris Wood has stepped up well in Awoniyi’s absence, including scoring the equaliser against Palace, but Forest could also be without key personnel in the backline as injuries look set to be without Wily Boly and Nuno Taveres – although former Fulham loanee Ola Aina will be available again having featured against Palace after coming back from the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria.

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