Silva ready for three ‘finals’ after Fulham defeat

Marco Silva told his Fulham players to prepare for three “finals” after their bid for a European place suffered a setback with a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.

The Whites are still in the battle for a Conference League spot with three matches of the campaign to come, starting at home to Everton next Saturday.

Asked about the remaining games, boss Silva said: “Finals, finals, finals, finals.”

He added: “This afternoon was very important for both teams. They won the game an now we have to look for the next three games, and the most important is the next one against Everton.

“We lost the game and it’s a sad moment for us. But now we have another game to play and it is very important for us to get the three points.”

Youri Tielemans scored the only goal of the game – a powerful header from John McGinn’s corner.

Harry Wilson spurned two chances to equalise.

The first came after he was set up by Alex Iwobi’s defence-splitting pass – keeper Emi Martinez gathered the Welshman’s weak effort.

And Wilson headed straight at Martinez when found unmarked by Calvin Bassey’s cross.

“The second-half reaction was very good,” said Silva.

“We knew we had to go and try to press a bit more, man for man, all over the pitch. Harry Wilson has a great chance for us to equalise.d.

“The team showed great spirit again, great attitude towards the end of the match. Unfortunately, we didn’t score and we lost the game.”