Silva wary of 'quality' Bournemouth
Yesterday at 09:59 AM
Marco Silva knows his Fulham side can’t afford to bask in the quality of the Boxing Day win at Chelsea – unless they want to be punished by Bournemouth, who visit Craven Cottage on Sunday.
The Whites’ first SW6 derby league victory in 49 years remains fresh in the memory but Silva insists the squad’s focus is now entirely on taking on the Cherries, who will provide formidable opposition under Andoni Iraola. The Fulham head coach told his pre-match press conference at Motspur Park that he was relishing the opportunity to lock horns with Bournemouth.
“What a battle it is going to be! Andoni Iraola is doing a really good job there. Our Bournemouth games are always really tight and competitive, and this is going to be another one. They’re a really physical side, direct too, and their frontline is top level. They have a really quality side, they are intense. It's going to be a great challenge for us but we are going to make it a great challenge for them too.”
Silva confirmed that he will take a late decision on the fitness of Emile Smith Rowe, who has missed Fulham’s last two fixtures after sustaining an injury in training.
"We don't know yet. It's a decision we are going to take on Saturday as we have another session. We have to keep assessing, not just the players who were out in the last game, but also the ones that played.”
The Portuguese head coach wants the Cottagers to kick on after beating Chelsea and has been impressed by the way his playing squad have embraced the challenge so far this season.
“The progression has been really great from ourselves. The way we are responding. The players who have come in have settled really well, and the help from the players that we already had was big for them. We are now ten unbeaten in London derbies. We have been strong and are really progressing in those types of games.”
