‘Bad evening’ for Fulham, Silva admits

Marco Silva admitted it was a “bad evening” after watching his Fulham side lose at home to Sheffield United.

The 1-0 defeat at Craven Cottage consigned the Whites, who remain top of the Championship, to their fifth successive game without a win. Fulham have not won since 20 November, with four draws and a loss.

They struggled to create clear-cut chances against the Blades, who have now won four games in a row, with an Aleksandar Mitrovic shot against the crossbar in the final minute the closest they came to rescuing a point.

Silva now has to address Fulham’s lack of urgency before their next game, at home to Birmingham City on Boxing Day.

“We were not at the level we should be,” said head coach Silva.

“It is important to talk about this evening and, of course, overall, if you want to look at chances, we didn’t make enough and left the best one to the last minute.

“Our balance was not good enough. It was up to us to play with intensity. We made a lot of unforced errors and were nervous and it was difficult for us to perform well.”

However, Silva insisted that his anxious team can reassert themselves.

“I know what we should do to win football matches,” he added.

“It is about playing our way. I will analyse this with my players in the next few days and see the many things we can improve for the next game.

“We have different types of games (in the Championship). It is difficult for us to analyse all aspects of the game right now but if you are anxious doing your job you cannot do your best.

“We have to do the basics, not lose so many passes and go again. It was a bad evening but we have done many good things so far this season.”