Silva expects Bassey to be fit for quarter-final

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Fulham boss Marco Silva says Calvin Bassey should be fit to face Everton in the Carabao Cup quarter-final.

The defender missed the 3-0 defeat at Newcastle because of illness but is expected to be available for Tuesday’s game. Tim Ream remains sidelined and is likely to be out until the new year. 

Silva said: “He (Bassey) is going to be available. He will have another (training) session, but I think it is enough time for him to recover for the game. But Tim Ream and Adama Traore are still out.”

Victory at Goodison Park would see the Whites reach the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in their history.


Silva, who managed Everton between May 2018 and December 2019, has won on his two returns to his former club as Fulham boss but will face an in-form opponent who have won four successive matches since being docked 10 points.

Fulham have not won away from home in eight Premier League matches and will be without striker Rl Jimenez after his red card at Newcastle.

But insists his players will head to Merseyside not feeling any pressure despite the chance to reach uncharted territory.

He said: “We are in a very good moment. It is not going to be the last game that we take with us, the red card to Jimenez changed the game, and it will not take away from us the good place we were in before that game.

“There is no pressure, only ambition. If you are doing so well that you can do something the club have never achieved, it is not pressure it just shows what we have done at this football club.

“The staff, all the players have done so well. Last season we got to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and we wanted to go through.

“But we want more than quarter and semi-finals, we want more. It is going to be tough, but we have all the ambition to get through this game.”