Fulham coach Marco Silva says both sides will be looking to provide a response when Fulham head to Nottingham Forest on Friday night. The Whites were defeated 2-1 by Tottenham Hotspur in our most recent outing, while our hosts saw a two-goal lead slip when they welcomed Bournemouth to the City Ground.
Marco Silva said: “A tough, tough game. They’re coming from a tough defeat at home. When you are winning 2-0 at home and you don’t get points from the game, I believe that was really tough for them. They will want to show a reaction, for sure, we want to do the same from our last game against Tottenham. It will be a really competitive match against a side who had a really, really strong market in the summer, to create a competitive squad and a squad to compete at a high level in this competition. They want to get the points, but we want the same and our approach will be the same. We go there to fight, to match them, to get the points. That’s our way, it’s always our aim and ambition for the match. Definitely it will be a tough match for both teams, not just for us, for them as well. The atmosphere, environment will be for them, our fans will be there for sure. It’s a nice place to play football, with a good atmosphere and we have to show our quality.”
This fixture last season saw Fulham abruptly halt Steve Cooper’s momentum at the helm with a 4-0 win, though they evened the scales when they nabbed a 1-0 victory in SW6. Not that those matches hold any weight going into our first ever Premier League meeting, according to Silva.
Marco Silva said: “It’s a completely different game. In the same way we won last season away from home, they won here at the Cottage. It’s a different game, different season, different competition as well, more different players for them than for us, even if the managers are the same. There’s not a big difference in terms of ideas, philosophy, but I believe the game will be completely different. Of course we’ll do our best to win the match, respecting them as a good side, a side that has a lot of individual quality. The [Bournemouth] defeat was tough for them but we have to go there to play our game. They will play with a good atmosphere around their team, but we have to show the character and the personality to play our game.”
