Marco Silva has called on his Fulham side ‘to grab the chance’ to play at Wembley as they prepare for tomorrow’s FA Cup quarter final against Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage.

The Portuguese head coach, who will take charge of his 500th game as a manager against the Eagles, believes the Whites have a changed mindset since returning to the top flight – and has reminded his players of the levels required against Palace, who beat Fulham in SW6 a month ago.

Silva told his pre-match press conference at Motspur Park this afternoon:

“It shows the progress since that first season in the Premier League. It’s not a coincidence that in our first season we got to the Quarter-Finals of the FA Cup, then last season we achieved the Semi-Finals for the first time ever in the Carabao Cup, and this season we are in the Quarter-Finals of the FA Cup.

It shows the progress, shows what we have been doing, not just in terms of performance, but changing the mentality of the club in every competition that we play. I remember the first games we played in these competitions when I first joined the club, and we’ve changed the approach, mindset and mentality completely – and we have been achieving important stages in these cups since.

Last season, the club had never played in the Semi-Finals of the Carabao Cup, now we are in the Quarter-Finals of the FA Cup. If you asked me what the feeling is like for the chance to play in the Semi-Finals, it’s great, but it’s normal progression for a club that is doing the right things and normal progression for a group of players and staff that has enough ambition.

It’s part of the journey and the pressure to play in these types of games should be a privilege for us. These games are important for the club to grow and achieve the next steps. Let’s grab the chance, I have told the players. We have a great opportunity, just like all the other clubs, like Palace have too, but let’s grab this chance to be playing the next round of this competition.”