Silva admits Fulham need to improve at the back

Marco Silva admits his Fulham team must tighten up defensively in order to end their poor run of form.

Fulham have lost three of their past four Premier League matches, having conceded 11 goals in the process and recorded just one clean sheet this season – in a 0-0 draw with struggling Wolves in August.

The Whites face an in-form Bournemouth side at Craven Cottage on Saturday, with the Cherries, who won promotion along with Silva’s team last season, unbeaten in five matches under the guidance of Gary O’Neil after Scott Parker was sacked following a 9-0 loss to Liverpool.

“I hate to concede goals,” Whites boss Silva said.

“A clean sheet at this level is so important, it is always something we work to achieve every day.

“Recently we had a a heavy result versus Newcastle and, although it was with 10 players, for two or three of the goals we should have done better.

“At West Ham last week, two of their three goals should have been disallowed but we should have done better for the other goal they scored.”

Silva said he has been impressed with how Bournemouth recovered from a horror start to the season to sit in eighth spot on the table, having chalked up a 2-1 win over Leicester last week.

But Silva said he is taking nothing from last season’s pair of 1-1 draws between the sides in the Championship.

“That was last year. This is completely different,” he said.

“Different manager, competition, and under Gary they have been improving and it is good to see that they have done well after being promoted.

“They are much more confident and it will be another good but tough game, but we are at home and we want a reaction from the last two games.”