Silva urges Fulham man to take his chance to ‘pop up’

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Fulham boss Marco Silva has urged left-back Layvin Kurzawa to follow the lead of Carlos Vinicius and make the most of his chance of a rare start at Newcastle on Sunday.

Kurzawa, 30, joined the Whites on loan from Paris St-Germain in September, but has played just 45 minutes in the Premier League this season due to the excellent form of Antonee Robinson, who is suspended for the trip to St James’ Park.


The France international’s only previous league appearance was against Newcastle at Craven Cottage earlier this season and proved to be a forgettable occasion, with Silva substituting Kurzawa at half-time in a 4-1 defeat.

But with Robinson picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in Thursday’s 2-1 win over Chelsea, Kurzawa will get the chance to start having impressed in the FA Cup win over Hull where he scored the opening goal in the 2-0 victory.

“He has shown he is ready,” Silva said.

“It’s a moment to pop up, like it was for Vinicius – it was a moment to pop up and he did it.

“It’s the same for Kurzawa. He’ll need minutes to be better and better but it’s a chance for him”

Mitrovic will return to face his former club, having missed the Chelsea game through suspension.