Silva focused on promotion, not Mitrovic breaking record

By

Marco Silva insisted after Fulham’s derby triumph at QPR that he is not bothered about the prospect of Aleksandar Mitrovic breaking the second-tier scoring record

Mitrovic’s brace took his league tally for the season to 37, meaning he needs just six more goals to break Guy Whittingham’s 29-year record.

It also cemented his team’s position at the top of the Championship, keeping them firmly in course for promotion.


But the striker can expect no selection favours from boss Silva – who would have taken him off against Rangers had Harrison Reed not suffered from cramp.

Asked if he felt it would be a shame if Mitrovic missed out on the record, Silva said: “I don’t look at this situation in this way.

“What would be a shame for us is if we don’t get our end goal at the end of the season. Individual things is not the main thing for us, to be honest.

“Of course if we can help him, we will help him. But it’s not something that is in our mind.

“To show you this: if Harrison Reed didn’t feel some cramp, it would have been Mitro to come out to protect him, to manage him and to give a chance to Rodrigo (Muniz) to go and play the last minutes.

“And I will manage the physical condition of Mitro for the next one. For us it (the record) is not the main thing.

“He is a really important player for us and he knows I just want him in the right spot to finish. He just needs to appear in the right spot.”

Mitrovic’s early opener put Fulham in control and he sealed the victory with a 78th-minute penalty after Lee Wallace was harshly adjudged to have handled Neco Williams’ cross.

“We definitely deserved the three points – no doubt about it,” Silva said.

“We knew this would be a tough one – a derby against a tough side.

“We wanted a reaction after the last defeat against West Brom and they were under the same pressure as they want to fight for a play-off position.

“We had a plan and from the first minute we controlled the match in every way.”