Marco Silva wants a reaction from Fulham at Old Trafford

By Sonia Twigg, PA

Marco Silva urged Fulham to put their recent woes behind them when they travel to Manchester United in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday.

The Cottagers have exceeded all expectations in their first season back in the Premier League, sitting as high as sixth, but back-to-back defeats against Brentford and Arsenal have seen them slip down to ninth.

Silva wants a reaction at Old Trafford after they were comfortably beaten at home by the table-topping Gunners last weekend.

“We have to be at our best level and not repeat some things of the last two games. It’s clear for me,” Silva said.

“We have been trying to go about it in a different way to show in some moments and a different approach with them to make them understand what we have been doing so well this season.

“It’s not just two bad results – because the results are one thing – but not performing the way we normally perform and as a whole we were not performing the way we should in certain moments.”

While Fulham have not reached an FA Cup final since 1975, some members of the squad hold fond memories of trips to Wembley, after two recent successful play-off finals in 2018 and 2020.

For Silva, he wants to earn another trip to the home of English football.

“It’s my goal right now to see that part of the stadium (Wembley) black and white,” he said.

“Of course I would like to see and the only way is to work really hard and to prepare the team well to be able to compete for that and after that we will see the result in the end.

“It will be a big achievement from ourselves. Preparing for this game we have to make the players understand the platform that we have been building from the beginning of the season is there because they did many many good things.”