After the crushing injury-time equaliser at Goodison Park, Fulham have had to wait an extra two days to take out their Premier League pain – with the local derby against Brentford having been moved to this evening to suit the demands of the Sky television executives. There’s been no independent confirmation that Marco Silva has used the extra training time to ensure his side are able to end the stoppage-time drama at the wrong end of the field, although no Craven Cottage would be complaining if the Whites were able to conjure up a late goal of their own like Aleksandar Mitrovic managed two years ago to settle the first Premier League meeting between the sides.

Fulham’s record against the Bees has been pretty lamentable over the past decade – barring Joe Bryan’s brilliant brace at Wembley that settled the Championship play-off final. That 2022 epic was one of just two Whites wins in 21 Craven Cottage clashes between the sides – with the other coming courtesy of a Steve Milton winner in 1990. Marco Silva was rightly highly complementary about the outstanding job Thomas Frank has done since arriving at Griffin Park in 2018 – and the Dane has definitely had Fulham’s number, following in the footsteps of Mark Warburton and Dean Smith after Brentford’s return to the second tier in 2014.

An improvement is long overdue in this fixture and a quick start tonight would be ideal – particularly in light of Brentford’s penchant for early goals. Another lightning fast start from the Bees would sow seeds of doubt amongst a Fulham side who have struggled to stitch together consistent performances this season – and could go four games without a win this evening if Brentford prevail. Frank’s side will be weakened by injuries to Rico Henry, Gustavo Nunes, Igor Thiago, Aaron Hickey and Josh Dasilva but they pose plenty of threat in the final third with Bryan Mbeumo boasting scored eight goals in nine league games and Yoane Wissa in a remarkably rich vein of form. The DR Congo forward has fired nine goals in his last ten starts.

The return of Fabio Carvalho to the ground he graced so beguilingly in Silva’s first campaign in charge will add extra electricity to the derby atmosphere. The Portuguese playmaker’s move to Anfield so soon after stylishly helping Fulham win the Championship didn’t pan out as either he or Jurgen Klopp anticipated, but his return to west London to join Frank’s squad of entertainers was still something of a surprise. Carvalho is more of a squad player than a regular starter at this point, but it might well be written in the stars that produces a magic moment against the club who nurtured his terrific talent.

Silva’s selection dilemmas remain the same as they were on Merseyside nine days ago, although Joachim Andersen’s return from his red card against Aston Villa will be very welcome. The Danish defender should slot back into the centre of defence alongside Calvin Bassey. The biggest question for the Fulham brains trust to resolve will be the balance of the midfield in front of them in the continued absence of Sasa Lukic. Sander Berge has yet to deliver a display worthy of the hefty fee that brought him from Burnley, whilst the influence of the creative duo ahead of him in Emile Smith Rowe and Andreas Pereira still doesn’t seem quite right.

Pereira is the second most creative player in the Premier League behind Bukayo Saka according to the statistics, but none of the 26 chances he has carved out for his team-mates have been converted. The Brazilian might have bagged a brilliant individual goal on his international duty lately, but the memory of his pathetic penalty against Villa will take a while to fade. He hasn’t adjusted properly to the number eight role following Joao Palhinha’s departure and all too often looks like a luxury Fulham can ill-afford. With Smith Rowe also working his way into a new system at a new club, Silva’s midfield feels like a work in the progress when they will need to be workmanlike to beat Brentford to the punch tonight.

MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson, Andersen, Bassey; Berge, Reed; Traore, Iwobi, Smith Rowe; Jimenez. Subs (not used): Benda, Castagne, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Cairney, Pereira, Wilson, Nelson, Muniz.