Fulham manager Marco Silva says Ipswich Town cannot be underestimated ahead of this weekend’s clash at Portman Road.
Kieran McKenna’s side have lost both of their games so far in their first Premier League campaign since 2001/02, but they have had a brutal start to the season, facing Liverpool and Manchester City.
And despite losing those games 2-0 and 4-1 respectively, Silva has been impressed with the Tractor Boys, particularly in their Premier League opener against Arne Slot’s side.
“I expect a really tough game,” he said. “They have an unbelievable winning mentality from the last two seasons. When you are promoted the way they were from League One to the Championship, and then Championship to the Premier League, I have to say that is unbelievable.
“They’ve played two really tough games against Liverpool and Manchester City but the first game of the season was a really tough one for Liverpool; the way they played, the atmosphere. It was a solid start for them except for the result.
“They made life difficult for Liverpool and they started the game with the right intensity, mentality and doing everything to win the game. Since then, they have made very good signings that will probably be in the squad and maybe the starting XI.
“It’s another chance for them to play at home. The environment will be the same, really big support for the home side and it’ll be a tough game.
“They really trust in their philosophy and process. They’ve been really successful in the last two seasons and I think they will continue in the same way. We need to be at our best level to make life really difficult for them and we need to keep improving, because there is big room for us to improve in certain aspects of the game and we need to show that."
Silva made 11 changes for our Carabao Cup tie at Birmingham City in midweek, which saw debuts for Jorge Cuenca, Steven Benda and Sander Berge, as well as second debuts for Joachim Andersen and Ryan Sessegnon.
The gaffer was pleased to get minutes into the legs of the likes of Sessegnon, Cuenca and Berge in our 2-0 win, and even more delighted that no injuries were picked up in the victory at St Andrew’s.
"We needed that game in the middle of the week," he said.
“It’s always tough when you change the XI from one game to the other, but the individual quality was there from almost all of the players. It was a good test for us off the ball as they created different problems for us with the energy they played with. We were able to be solid, which was a good sign.
“Ryan is in a different situation. He needs these games to get in the right shape. It was amazing to see him play 95 minutes in the game. His connection with the fans is so crucial for him and it was great to see him on the pitch at the end with zero problems and training again today.
“Joachim doesn’t need those types of games as he was playing at Crystal Palace. It was important for Jorge to get his first feeling of English football and Sander needs minutes.
"It's good news to have all the players available."