Marco Silva billed Fulham’s trip to Aston Villa on Saturday lunchtime as ‘a big, big game’ as the Whites look to keep their European homes alive.

Silva’s side secured a precious three points at Southampton last Saturday after Ryan Sessegnon’s stoppage-time winner at St. Mary’s and Fulham will need to keep up the momentum in the early kick off at Villa Park tomorrow. The Portuguese head coach told his pre-match press conference at Motspur Park yesterday afternoon:

“[It is a] big, big game. Big, big game for us, and I really believe it’s a big game for Villa too. An amazing place to play football, a great environment to be in. The pressure from the Villa supporters is going to be big. It’s a great challenge for us, another great test. We really love to play in these types of games, and we need to step in and show our quality.

We need to show why this is like another final for us, show why we’re only just behind them in the table – a team that achieved the quarter-finals of the Champions League, a team that attacked the [transfer] market in January, showing the ambition that they have. They were able to sign players like [Marcus] Rashford, [Donyell] Malen and [Marco] Asensio for the attacking line. 

We are talking about a team that showed their ambition, not just last pre-season, but in January by making five signings. They were really assertive and Unai [Emery] is always saying about the solutions he has, and the competition he has in the squad. They have high quality all round their squad – and it’s going to be a great test for us. They are very well managed as well, with a clear idea of how they want to play. We have to play at our best. It’s a clear final for both sides and we need to show our quality and personality.”

Silva rejected the idea that this might be a good time to play Villa – who are coming off the back of two defeats and the end of an epic European run. He insisted the hosts’ ‘level won’t drop’ due to the quality of Emery’s squad:

“They played so many Champions League games this season in a great way. We have to give all the credit to them, because it’s not easy playing at that level in the Champions League, against some of the best sides in Europe. They have been able to play a team in the Champions League and then rotate four or five players for the Premier League. They are one of the teams that can do this in a better way because they have eleven who play, and then seven, eight or nine who can come in and the level won’t drop. That shows the quality they have.”